Bloodsucking and Bounty Hunting in Beantown
by ROGsvgirl
Summary: Crossing Jordan & Kindred the Embraced XOver. Nigel's new girlfriend has dark and sexy secret. What is it? and how is Peter Winslow involved? CHAPTER 11 NOW UP!
1. Nigel's Non-existent Girlfriend

A/N: This is a Crossing Jordan/ KtE X-over. I got the idea for it after watching the episode of crossing Jordan where Peter loses his wife. It made me think what if he had lost someone else? Also, I totally love Nigel and I thought it was about time he got some play. He's a total Goth. So, what if my favorite British coroner actually met a real vampire?

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from KtE or Crossing Jordan. Jessica Renard is my original character. Please ask before taking her.

Chapter 1

When Bug entered his office to find his partner snoring in front of a computer screen, he tried not to laugh. He really did. The coroner failed miserably, though, and proceeded to wake the sleeping man with a fit of giggles. "Late night again, Nigel?"

Dr. Nigel Townsend gave an undignified grunt and glared at his friend. He adjusted the collar of his turtle-neck and took a big swig of his cold double espresso. "Didn't get in 'til 4:30," he groaned. Then he added with a smirk, "Not that it wasn't worth it."

"Ah, yes, your new paramour." Bug replied skeptically. "What was her name again?"

"Jessie. And don't give me that look. She is very much real."

Just then, Lily Lebowski stuck her head into the room. "Hey, Bug. Garrett says he wants your report on the Hoffs case ASAP." Then, the grief counselor for the Boston M.E.'s office noticed the room's other occupant. "What's with you?"

"He was out late last night with his new, ultra-sexy girlfriend." Bug retorted.

This elicited a laugh from Lily. "Oh yeah, the one he met in that Goth club weeks ago, but has yet to introduce to any of us?"

"For the record," Nigel interjected. "It was a rock club, not a Goth club. And Jessie has not, as yet, been able to get away from her work to accept my invitation to join us all for a drink."

"What are we talking about?" said Jordan Cavanaugh, who had just entered the room.

"Nigel's non-existent girlfriend." Lily replied.

"Oh, ok." Jordan shrugged. "Interesting as that is, Nige, Garrett wants to see us in his office. There's some woman here about that John Doe case from yesterday."

The British M.E. nodded. Lily turned to the dark-haired woman. "Is it a family member here for an ID? Maybe I should come too."

"Whatever floats your boat. I don't know who she is. Macy just told me to come and get Nigel."

"I'll see you guys later, then." Bug said. "I gotta finish that Hoffs case. By the way, has anyone seen Peter? He's supposed to have the results of the tox-screen for me."

The two women shook their heads. Nigel shrugged "Haven't seen hide nor hair of him, Buggles. Sorry."

The Head Boston Medical Examiner sat looking over a stack of papers, presented to him by the woman sitting in the chair across from him. Garrett Macy was more than a little perturbed. "This is highly irregular, you realize."

The striking, leggy, auburn haired woman simply shrugged. She was dressed in a simple green t-shirt with suede pants and a leather motorcycle jacket. For some odd reason she refused to take her sunglasses off inside, and she glanced at the M.E. over them. "Hey. Irregular or not, the paper work's all there. All I know is my contract reads 'DEAD or ALIVE.' So here I am."

Just then, the door opened to admit two coroners and one grief counselor. Before Garrett could introduce his employees, Nigel let out a shout of excitement. "Jessie!" he said, pulling the newcomer into a warm hug. "What are you doing here, luv?"

Jessie grinned good naturedly and kissed Nigel on the cheek. "Working, actually. I totally forgot that you work here! I could have saved myself an hour's worth of trouble."

"Excuse, me. I take it you two know each other?" Garrett interrupted.

"Oh! I know who you are!" Lily said, gesturing excitedly. "You're Nigel's non-existent girlfriend!" Off the others' looks, she amended, "I mean... we all thought you didn't exist...But obviously, you do."

Garrett grunted in frustration. "Lily, is there a particular reason you're in my office?"

She looked a bit hurt but shrugged it off quickly. "Jordan said there was a woman here about the John Doe. I thought you might need me too." She extended a hand to Jessie. "I'm Lily Lebowski. I'm the grief counselor here, so feel free to come to me if you need to talk about anything."

The other woman gave her a strange look and a muttered thanks before Garrett cut in again. "Lily, Miss Renard isn't family. She's a bail enforcement agent."

Jordan gave a surprised laugh. "You never told us you were dating a bounty hunter, Nige."

The Brit rolled his eyes, "You never asked, luv."

"That's actually why I'm here." Interjected Jessie. "One of my contracts evidently ended up here as a John Doe. Since I don't get my money until I present evidence of his death, here I am."

"You're right, darling. You could've saved a lot of time." Nigel replied. "I've been working on this case for two days."

"So what do you need from us?" Jordan asked, her interest piqued.

"My court order covers copies of the autopsy report, the death certificate, and any photographs you have."

"That's a pretty extensive list." The dark-haired woman commented.

"He was a pretty bad guy." The bounty hunter replied. "There are a lot of people that will feel a lot better knowing he's dead."

"Okay, then. Nigel can take Miss Renard to view the body. Jordan, get her what she needs as far as paper work. Lily, I'm sure you have other, more pressing cases." Garrett said, dispersing the people in his office.

Jordan stopped them on the way to the crypt. "This is my stop. Just a few questions, though."

"Shoot."

"What exactly did this guy do? And who is he?

"Kerby Harris killed five people in a bar massacre in Mississippi." Jessie replied.

Jordan arched an eyebrow. "Good to know."

Nigel ushered his girlfriend into the crypt and showed her Harris' body. She nodded and made a few notes in a notebook she had pulled out of her pocket. Nigel grinned at her, recalling how they met.

Flashback

Nigel Townsend was pissed, knackered, hammered, whatever you want to call it. He'd been pining after the unattainable Jordan Cavanaugh too long. At least, she seemed to be unattainable to him. She'd been quite attainable to a variety of one night stands that he had the dubious pleasure of hearing about after they happened. And then, there was her pseudo-relationship with Detective Woodrow Hoyt, which she informed him on routinely. He, of course, was relegated to the role of friend and confidante. Nigel had accepted the fact that he could never have the woman he loved, the way he wanted. So it was that he had resigned himself to his fate, and this resignation had led him to Elysium. Elysium was a rock club on the south side of Boston famed for it's up-and-coming talent, dark lighting, artsy clientelle and fully stocked bar. It was here that Nigel met the singular personality that was Jessica Renard.

Jessie walked up to him after his fifth shot of tequila. She ordered something called the "house special" and sat down on the stool next to him. His speech was only slightly slurred as he worked up the nerve to give her the oldest line in the book. "Come here often?"

"Not particularly," she replied, taking a sip of her blood-red drink. "I'm new in town and was just looking for some fun. My name's Jessie."

Nigel stared at her a moment. Her eyes seemed to be boring a hole into him. They took on strange flecks of color and light the longer he stared. It felt almost as if she were staring into his very soul. He gulped. "Well, look no further, my pet. Good time, thy name is Dr. Nigel Townsend."

"Doctor? And what kind of doctor are you, Nigel Townsend?"

"I am a Forensic Pathologist, my dear, among other things. Yes, I am a coroner, Criminologist, computer jockey, confidante, and all around emotional punching bag for the masses. Cheers." He said taking another swig of tequila.

"Well, Dr. Townsend. It seems to be a lucky night for both of us. What do you say to us adjourning to someplace less crowded?"

Nigel sobered up a bit at this suggestion. "Are you serious?"

"Totally."

"I may be a bit drunk, luv."

"That's okay. I can drive and I don't mind working around a bit of alcohol. Come on. It'll be fun." She replied, staring him down again with her glowing eyes.

At this, most of the arguments in Nigel's head seemed to evaporate. He didn't often pick up women in bars, but he found himself following this one to her car, to spite a nagging sense that something was out of place. As he rode, in near silence, in the passenger seat of her Cadillac convertible, Nigel started to sober up. In doing so, he began to notice little things that added to his sense of agitation. Nigel just couldn't place what it was about her that was sending shivers of both fear and arousal through him.

By the time they got to her apartment, he was completely alert. When he saw how the wide open space was decorated, without mirrors, heavy curtains hanging around the windows, a picture started to emerge in the dark-haired Goth's mind. And when Jessie approached him, as a panther would his prey, eyes blazing with an unnatural light, Nigel knew exactly what highly improbable situation he was being faced with. "I know why you brought me here."

"Do you?" Jessie laughed. "I highly doubt it."

"You don't have to hunt me down, luv." He had the urge to back up as she advanced on him, but Nigel Townsend forced himself to stand his ground. "I don't mind being your next meal."

This stopped Jessie in her tracks. She seemed to deflate right in front of him, her eyes returning to there natural hazel tint. "How do you know what I am?"

"I'm a dedicated Goth love, and your decor screams creature of the night. If I couldn't recognize you as a vampire, I don't know who could."

Jessie slumped onto the bed her head in her hands and mumbled something he couldn't make out. "What was that, luv?"

"Kindred." she growled out, "We prefer the term Kindred."

Right before Nigel's eyes, Jessie had gone from an irresistible predator to a tired, frustrated young woman. He knew he was probably playing with fire, but he was now face to face with one of the creatures that had always fascinated him the most. She didn't look all powerful, or dangerous, or immortal anymore. She looked like he had felt all night, depressed. Nigel sat down on the bed next to Jessie and cautiously covered one of her hands with his own.

"I thought you'd have run screaming from the building by now." Jessie said. "Most people would."

"I am not most people, luv. And like I said, I don't mind being your next meal. Long as you aren't too rough with me, that is."

"You're saying you'd be willing to let me feed from you voluntarily?" At his nod, Jessie regained some of her bravado and slid a hand up his chest. "You realize, you probably won't remember any of this in the morning?"

"Hey, hypnotize me if you like. But it seems such a loss when we could have such fun together." Nigel replied. He couldn't pass up the opportunity to get to know such a fascinating creature.

A sly smile crept over Jessie's face. "Maybe you're right."

She pushed the human man onto his back and straddled his legs. Jessie began to unbutton his shirt and place light kisses all over his chest. As she made a beeline down his stomach and back up toward his throat, Nigel was struck with the realization that he had forgotten all about his laments over Jordan. And as the Kindred lay her lips over his throat, all thought was banished from his mind.

Present

It had been several weeks since that night at Jessie's apartment, and so far, Nigel couldn't be happier with how things were going between them. Jessie had been a bit nervous at first about dating a human, and having him know her identity. However, she had gone to what she called the "Prince of the City" and cleared their particular situation. There was no need to fear retribution from the higher-ups in the Kindred community, as long as Nigel became part of what they termed the Herd.

Basically, this was a group of loyal humans, willing to let the Kindred feed from them in return for social connections, financial support, employment, etc. Nigel had readily agreed with the option to be Embraced in the future and the sheer pleasure of the act as his only conditions. The only drawbacks were that he rarely got to see his girlfriend during the day, he had only recently been able to introduce Jessie to any of his friends, and he had to wear collars and other clothes that were ridiculous in the present Boston climate, in order to cover the bite marks. But, all in all, it ballanced out with the fact that Nigel no longer felt so alone.

Jessie closed up her notepad and concluded, "Okay, all done."

"Just out of curiosity, why were you after this guy?" Nigel asked as he pushed the body and slab back into their cabinet. "I thought you only took contracts for Kindred."

"Mostly," she replied, pulling him in for a kiss, "But in this case, the contract was put out on him by one of us. He double crossed a Ventrue, and they can get really nasty when you do that."

Nigel nodded his understanding. "So, luv, what do you say to a quickie, before dinner and a drink with my friends?"

"Here in the morgue?" At his nod, she smirked. "Kinky. But what do you say to a quickie and dinner, before a drink with your friends." She smiled as his pupils dilated in arousal and began to tug at the collar of his turtleneck.

They were interrupted, however, when Bug came through the door of the crypt. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't think anyone was in here!" he sputtered. Then, he got a good look at the couple and his eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. Nigel, you aren't hitting on the clients again are you?"

Nigel rolled his eyes. "I've got to hand it to you, Buggles. You've got the worst timing of anyone in this office. And no, I wasn't making out with a client. Jessie, this is Dr. Mahesh Vijayaraghavensatyanaryanamu rthy. Don't try to pronounce it. Just call him Bug. We all do. Bug, this is Jessie. You know, my 'non-existent' girlfriend?"

Again Bug sputtered and shook Jessie's extended hand. "We've all heard so much about you." Bug muttered. "Of course, we didn't believe any of it."

Jessie just laughed. "So, why do they call you Bug?"

Nigel interrupted. "Actually, are you working on anything pressing tonight, luv?"

"Not really. Nothing that can't wait a day or two."

"Then, why don't you take me up on my drink invitation? I'll invite the others, and Bug can tell you his life story then." Nigel looked at his friend, who looked hesitant. "Oh, come on, Bug. It's just a drink."

"Oh, alright." replied the shorter man. "But you're buying the first round."


	2. Jordan's Denial and Zane's Twin Brother

Chapter 2

Jordan Cavanaugh was annoyed. When Nigel had asked her and the rest of the M.E. staff out to get to know his new girlfriend, she'd readily accepted. In fact, pretty much all of her extended "family" was at her father's bar, drinking and talking up a storm. Jessie was sitting with Nigel's arm draped over her shoulder, and for some reason this really bothered Jordan.

Over the course of the evening, Jordan became increasingly uneasy at the attention Nigel lavished on his lover. The little touches and sideways glances they gave to each other had gotten under her skin big time. And when the pair had spontaneously started to dance to the bar's jukebox version of "Can't Buy Me Love," Jordan had almost been tempted to cut in. Almost.

If she was honest with herself, which Jordan rarely was, she'd been aware of Nigel's crush on her for quite sometime. She even manipulated that infatuation, if unconsciously, quite a few times. But, she always felt terrible about it afterwards. Her irritation did not mean, however, that Jordan Cavanaugh was jealous. That was impossible. For her to be jealous of Jessie would mean that she actually reciprocated Nigel's feelings. That couldn't be true. Nigel was Jordan's best friend, next to Garrett, and one of the three most important men in her life. Woody didn't even rate that high, not really. Jordan couldn't allow herself to have those kinds of feelings for someone so important to her existence and her sanity. So Jordan did what Jordan did best. She pushed her feelings down to the pit of her stomach, plastered on her best fake smile, and lied to herself.

No one really noticed Jordan's discomfort, seeing as she was so good at hiding it. Bug was telling a story about how he'd once solved a homicide with his knowledge of an obscure breed of Amazon Blow Fly. Lily listened to him avidly. Meanwhile, Nigel, and Jessie listened to a joke Garrett was telling about a genie and a golf ball. Jordan pretended to pay attention to one, then the other.

Peter, was working late on a mysterious homicide case, and had yet to arrive. Nigel had left a note on the young M.E.'s work station, telling him to show up as soon as he could. The only one to notice Jordan's descent in mood was Jessie, and only because of her heightened senses. She could hear the changes in heart rate and breathing, indicating an anxious state. The younger woman chose, however, to file this bit of information away in her mental data base for a later time. Right now, she was more interested in the conversation that Jordan and Nigel had struck up about the clubs they frequented.

"Yeah, we we're planning on going dancing Friday night. Saturday's Nigel's day off. Anybody wanna come with?" Jessie interjected. Nigel smiled his agreement, but a collective groan went up around most of the table.

"I have to get up at the crack of dawn every day this week. I've got a lot of paper work to do." Bug sputtered.

Lily nodded. "And I have at least four families coming in for IDs that day."

"Don't look at me. The Morgue might literally stop running if I'm not there." Garrett commented.

"I'll go."

Everyone looked a bit surprised at Jordan. Looking around the table, she shrugged. "What? I think I've earned a bit of R&R. And I've got plenty of vacation time built up. I can't take a day off?"

The group seemed to collectively shrug. Even Garrett couldn't argue with that logic, seeing as how he might actually get a day's worth of peace out of the deal. Nigel's smile grew wider. He held up his Guiness and made a toast. "Here's to a little R&R. Cheers."

Jessie smiled and rubbed her hands together. "On that note, I think I'm gonna go freshen up a bit."

Jordan watched Jessie place a kiss on Nigel's forehead, and walk into the ladies' room behind one of the waitresses. All the while, the older woman kept thinking that she must be insane for agreeing to go out with them. She wanted to convince herself that she really could use a night out on the town. But, she just couldn't get away from the nagging feeling that she really was jealous of Jessie, and all that this particular fact entailed.

Jordan was pulled out of her reverie when Peter Winslow arrived at the table. He ran a hand through his drenched hair. Jordan concluded that it must be pouring outside for him to be as wet as he was. Peter pulled up a chair and draped his dripping leather jacket over the back of it. "Got your note, Nigel. Sorry I'm late."

"That's alright, mate. We were just commenting on the need for R&R after a long work day. Jessie and Jordan and I were gonna pop into a club or two Friday evening. You fancy a night on the town?"

Peter looked at his boss for approval. Dr. Macy nodded. Like Jordan, Peter looked like he could use a night of dancing. Losing his ex-wife had been hard on him, and Garrett couldn't use Peter if he was dead on his feet from throwing himself into his work. This went double if the work drove him to "using" again. Garrett wasn't Peter's father, though. It wasn't his job to baby-sit the kid. And he trusted Jordan and Nigel to keep an eye on the recovering addict for one night. Peter held up the beer he'd ordered. "Sounds like a plan, then."

"Great, you can be my date." Jordan cooed. "I hate being the third wheel." In truth, a scheme was taking shape in Jordan's mind to get between Nigel and Jessie. She was glad that she might be able to rope Peter in, as an accomplice.

Just then, Jessie came back up to the table behind Peter. She did not look happy. Nigel asked her what was wrong, causing Peter to turn around and look at the woman standing behind him. His eyes widened at the sight of the Kindred girl. He slowly stood, and turned to face Jessie, who, to everyone's confusion, looked absolutely livid. "Hello, Jessica."

The entire table gasped as his head snapped back with the force of the slap that Jessie sent to his cheek. "Hello, Peter."

Flashback

"Ouch! That hurt, luv."

Jessie removed her fingertips from the fresh tattoo on Nigel's shoulder blade. It was a small, but ornate letter H. It looked much like something out of the Book of Kells. All members of the Herd had this same tattoo, in the same place on their bodies. Jessie had an identical one from the days before her Embrace. She laughed slightly. "Oh, come on. It can't be that bad. I bet it didn't hurt nearly as much as that did."

Nigel looked at the Union Jack tattoo she was pointing to on the back of his calf. It was much larger than the one on his shoulder. He and Jessie were lying on her bed, having just made love after coming back from the tattoo parlour. "Yes, but that was a long time ago, darling. And I happened to be good and snockered at the time."

This only made Jessie laugh harder. "Bet the tattoo artist looked at you funny when you walked in like that…. Which reminds me, why were you so drunk when we met?"

Nigel grew somber and proceeded to tell her all the sordid details of his one-sided love affair with Jordan Cavanaugh, not omitting the fact that he was still in love with her. After all, sharing blood with someone does tend to make one trust them. And, though both knew it wasn't love they shared, Nigel and Jessie considered themselves to be very close friends. Jessie listened to his whole story with an understanding, empathetic look on her face. When Nigel finished, he asked, "What about you, darling? Ever been in love?" Jessie's eyes teared up and she nodded. "Once."

"It's all right, luv. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

She shook her head. "No. It's fine. It's just been a while since I thought about him, is all."

Nigel listened patiently while she spoke, all the while rubbing small, calming circles into her back. "We met in junior high, back in San Fransisco. He and his twin brother moved in with their grandmother, down the street from my foster home. They saved me from getting beat up by one of the school's resident gangs. The three of us found out we had the same birthday and did everything together from then on. We ate lunch together, studied together, or tried to. We learned to ride motorcycles together. We even got hooked on dope together."

She broke down and cried for a minute, this time, then let out a tense laugh before continuing. "We had these little nick names for each other. Michael was Zane. Peter was Rocky. He said it was because of the Apostle. You know, Peter the Rock? I think it was because he was obsessed with Sylvester Stallone at the time."

Nigel nodded. "And you?"

"That, I will not divulge to a living soul. Suffice it to say the name didn't catch on. Thankfully, everybody just started calling me JJ. Toward the middle of high school, we started hanging out in biker bars. We got in pretty tight with this group of bikers."

"Ah, fell in with a bad crowd, did you?" Nigel interjected.

"The worst." She laughed, genuinely this time. "They were a band of Gangrels. Much to our surprise, they were able to straighten us out. All three of us were completely clean by the time we all joined the Herd. Zane started hanging around the Toreadors, the artist's clan. He loved his music."

Again, she broke down into tears. Nigel asked, "Do you want stop, luv? You really don't have to tell me all this."

Jessie shook her head again and started again. "Rocky and I stuck with the Gangrels. We got a lot closer together when Zane stopped hanging out with us so much. Eventually, we became lovers. By the time, we were ready to be Embraced, Rocky and I were so inseparable that the Gangrel Primogen, Stevie Ray, offered to Embrace both of us on the same night. We would've been Twins, Embraced within hours of each other, by the same Sire. That's one of the closest bonds one Kindred can have with another; closer than clanmates, closer than brood-siblings, almost as close as Sire and Childe, or even a Mated Pair. And we were gonna be Gangrels. Gangrel Clan is arguably the closest knit of any in the Kindred world..."

When she trailed off again, Nigel simply prompted her. "So, what happened? You keep talking like it never came off."

"Stevie Ray planned it so he could Embrace us on our 20th birthday. He was always a bit sentimental for a Gangrel. Zane had been Embraced a few weeks before, by the Toreador Primogen. So, Rocky and I went to this big party at Stevie's. Half the Clan was there. We decided that I should go first because Embracing me would less taxing on Stevie and he'd be able to recuperate faster for the second Embrace. We went into Stevie's room together. Half way through my Embrace, Rocky stepped out, supposedly to get some air. He never came back."

Nigel's eyebrows shot into his hairline. He was surprised she'd been left that way. He couldn't imagine who, in their right mind, would abandon Jessie. Even though he was filled with animosity for this Rocky, at the thought of how he treated Jessie, Nigel decided to force some levity into the situation. "Ah, so the plot thickens."

This elicited a small laugh from Jessie, "Before I even found out that he was gone, Rocky was on a plane cross-country. He always was the dedicated one, of the three of us. I bet he could run to the ends of the earth if he put his mind to it. Zane kept in touch with him for a few years by phone. I don't think he ever told Rocky how much he really missed him. I was able to take find solace with my Clan, my family. But, Zane started gradually going down hill over the next few years. He never really adjusted to being Kindred, I think. About three years after his Embrace, Zane went crazy. He started Embracing girls against their will and got involved with the Prince's niece. Eventually, he was put down like a mad dog, by his own Sire. I tried to get a hold of Rocky, but it seems he didn't want to be found. That was just after my own Sire was brutally murdered by a bunch of filthy Brujah. After that… I... I just couldn't stay in San Fransisco any longer. I told the new Primogen, my brood-brother Cash, that I was leaving. I begged leave of the Prince. I packed my stuff into my saddle bags and rode off into the sunset. And the rest, as they say, is history."

Nigel nodded. "I guess you can be pretty dedicated to running as well. So, you never saw Rocky again?"

"Nope. And that's probably a good thing. I don't know how I'll react if we ever do cross paths in the future."

Present

The table of M.E.s looked on the increasingly hostile situation with a mix of dismay, amazement, and perverse interest. Peter rubbed his cheek, which would probably be black and blue in the morning, and looked back at Jessie. "I suppose I deserved that."

"Damn straight, you did." Jessie seethed. "Or perhaps you can think of a better greeting for a man who abandoned his family without so much as a phone call?!"

"Hey, I did call. I called Zane right after I left."

"From an airport in Atlanta!"

"Yeah, he said you were kinda pissed about that. I tried to call you but..."

Jessie cut him off, "Oh! Don't even try it, Rocky. Besides, I wasn't talking about us! I can believe you ran out on me, and on our friends, and Stevie, who was like a father to you. But I cannot believe you would run out on Zane."

Now, it was Peter's turn to get angry. "Don't talk to me about Zane. I kept in touch with him for a long time. He was the one who broke contact with me! He didn't even call me back when I invited him to my wedding!"

"You're bitching about a wedding!?" Jessie looked incredulous. She couldn't believe what she was hearing."Please... tell me you're kidding!"

"Zane hasn't talked to me in years. So, again, don't talk to me about Zane!"

At this point, Jessie threw her hands up, rounded Peter to pick her jacket off the back of Nigel's chair, and snatched her sunglasses off the table. Nigel looked at his girlfriend worriedly. "What are you doing, luv?"

"I'm outta here." She kissed Nigel's cheek and addressed the rest of the table. "It was nice meeting you all. Jordan, I look forward to Friday night. Nigel can work out the details. You all have a good night."

Jessie stormed toward the door, but stopped short and turned back to Peter. She ripped off the peace sign necklace that perpetually hung around her neck and threw it at him. "Zane's dead, Rocky. He's been dead for the past eight years. Thanks for troubling yourself to find out!"

As Jessie stormed out the door, Peter stared brokenly at the pendant in his hand. It had belonged to Zane. Lily was instantly at his side, offering silent support with a confused look on her face. Jordan was less subtle. "I don't get it. Who's Zane?"

Peter was saved the trouble of answering by Nigel. "His twin brother."


	3. Musical Chairs

Chapter 3

Jordan knocked for third time on Peter Winslow's door, before beginning to pound as hard as she could. Eventually, the door opened, revealing a very weary looking man. Jordan smirked. "You look like hell. Can I come in?"

"Do I have a choice in the matter?"

Jordan ducked under Peter's arm and into his apartment. "Not really."

Peter sighed in resignation. He was dressed in a t-shirt and a simple set of boxers. He looked like he hadn't showered in the days since she'd last seen him. His apartment didn't look much better either. Take out cartons and pizza boxes were strewn across the floor. It looked like Peter hadn't left the place once in the two days he'd taken off from work. Jordan spotted a suspicious looking syringe on a countertop and held it up for Peter to see. He shrugged. "It's empty. Take it back to the lab and test it if you want."

"If you didn't use it, then why do you have it?" She asked softly. The syringe, on further inspection, did look clean. He could have sterilized it, but junkies weren't often known for their cleanliness. Jordan honestly believed Peter, but she thought it might be good for him to talk out his problem.

Peter plopped down into an overstuffed chair and took a swig of his open beer. "My brother's dead, Jordan. My ex-wife is dead. My career is hanging by a thread. I have no one left that I would actually consider family, besides you guys at work. And to top it all off, the only woman I've ever truly been in love with hates my guts."

Jordan just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. Again, Peter sighed. "I was tempted. Okay? But I called and talked to my NA sponsor, and he convinced me to flush the drugs instead of taking them. There. Are you happy? Search the apartment if you like. You won't find anything."

Jordan thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Come on. You need to get dressed."

"What for?"

"Dancing. You're supposed to be my date tonight. Remember?"

"You're insane."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to get that checked." She deadpanned, eliciting a small laugh from Peter. "Come on. I hate being the third wheel. And how could I waste this outfit, in good conscience?"

Jordan was wearing a skin-tight, knee-length leather skirt and an Azure blue peasant top with a pair of knee-high, lace up, high heeled boots. She looked hot, to say the least. A fact which made Peter grow suspicious. "What are you up to, Jordan?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Bull."

Jordan sighed. "Look, suffice it to say that I'm not sure that Jessie is the right person for Nigel. I thought I'd talk to him about it tonight. I mean, look at what she did to you in the bar!"

Peter shook his head. "Jessie is a great person. Trust me, she has good reason to be angry with me."

"Yeah, what is it with you two, anyway?"

"You aren't gonna let this go are you?"

"Not likely," Jordan replied sitting down in the chair he offered.

"We were lovers. She wanted me to make a commitment. I told her I would, and then backed out unexpectedly. Now, she's pissed. End of story."

Jordan gave him a skeptical look. "Seems a bit more complicated than that."

"It is. But I really don't want to go into it." Peter shrugged.

"Do you still love her?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does if she's still loves you. You should be together."

"But she's with Nigel, now..." Peter's eyes went wide. "Wait a minute. Is that what this is all about? You're jealous?"

The way Jordan opened and closed her mouth without making a sound reminded Peter a lot of a fish. In all honesty, she was jealous. She really did care for Nigel. And with Peter asking her the point-blank question, she found it nearly impossible to deny. All she could do was shrug.

Peter scrutinized her face for a few seconds in silence. Then, he seemed to make up his mind and nodded. "Alright, give me a few minutes to get ready. Make yourself at home."

He went into his bedroom and emerged fifteen minutes later, showered and dressed for the evening. Peter wore a simple white button-down shirt with a black vest and tight black jeans. His collar was left open for about three buttons, showing off a chest Jordan might have thought quite nice, if her mind was not otherwise occupied. He grinned at her approving look. "Alright, let's do this."

Jessie and Nigel had been dancing and drinking for about an hour, by the time Jordan and Peter showed up at the pre-arranged location. It was a rock club not much different from Elysium. The only discrepancies were the DJ playing a steady mix of new wave, punk, and classic rock, and the distinct lack of vampiric clientele. Nigel was the first to spot Jordan from the dance floor. He waved at her to follow him and Jessie to their table. When he caught sight of who was with her, Nigel mentally kicked himself. He'd forgotten that he'd invited Peter. Looking at Jessie, as they sat down at the table that held their drinks, he could tell she hadn't overlooked Jordan's date either. When Jordan and Peter reached the table through the throng of dancers, Jessie looked positively livid.

"What are you doing here?" she growled out.

Nigel coughed guilty. "I invited him, luv."

That earned him a glare from his girlfriend. Before Jessie could say anything, though, Jordan cut her off. "Look. I know there's bad blood between you and Peter, but we're all adults here. I'm sure we're all mature enough to get along and have a good time for one night."

Jessie and Peter stared into each other's eyes, each sizing the other up mentally. The tension between them was almost tangible. After a few seconds, Jessie nodded. "Okay, I'm a big girl. I can be good for one night."

Peter simply nodded to Jordan who sighed. "Okay. That's settled." she said, tossing her jacket over the back of one of the chairs. "So who wants to dance with me?"

"Don't look at me." Nigel replied. "I think I'll need a good ten minutes to catch my breath. This lovely's been running me ragged."

Jessie giggled. "You tucker out too easy, old man."

"Bite your tongue." Nigel scolded. "You have no business calling me an old man. I'm barely five years older than you."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. Jessie couldn't be as old as Nigel had implied. She didn't look a day over twenty-one. In fact, it had occurred to Jordan when she first met the bounty hunter that Nigel must be going through some kind of mid-life crisis if he was dating her. "Wait a minute, how old are you?"

"I'll be thirty-two in three weeks." Jessie replied.

"That's right!" Nigel replied, excitedly. "We'll have to throw you a party or something. What day was it again?"

"Thursday the 23rd."

They were the first words Peter had spoken since arriving, and everyone turned to look at him. They seemed to just remember he was there. Jessie had an unreadable expression on her face. Nigel simply nodded. Jordan looked at him quizzically. He shrugged. "Same as mine."

There was an awkward moment before Jessie let out a sigh and turned to Jordan. "Well, since Nigel's dead on his feet, why don't we leave the boys here and go shake our tail-feathers?"

Jordan put her hand in Jessie's offered one. "Sounds good."

As the girls disappeared from view in the mass of bodies on the dance floor, the waitress arrived and they ordered a round of fresh drinks. Nigel turned to Peter after the beverages arrived, wanting to dissipate the awkward silence between them. "So."

"So."

"You're the infamous Rocky, then?"

Peter winced. Jessie had obviously told his co-worker about their relationship. He wondered how much Nigel really knew about her. Did he know Jessie was Kindred? Was he part of the Herd? It had been so long since Peter had thought about any of this. The flood of memories caused him to unconsciously brush the spot on his shoulder which held his small tattoo of the letter H. "That would be me, I guess. No one's called me that in a long time."

"Twelve years. Jessie told me."

For some reason, that comment made Peter angry. "Yeah, well...is there a point to this conversation?"

"You hurt her, you know." Nigel replied calmly.

Peter deflated a bit. "I know."

"You should talk to her." Nigel didn't know quite why he was saying this to Peter. Not many men would try to proffer a peace between a current girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend. However, Nigel knew that Peter and Jessie were still hurting. As much as he cared for Jessie, he knew that she was still in love with her old flame. And it was entirely possible that Peter was in love with her as well. That, and the fact that Nigel himself was in love with Jordan meant that he didn't mind so much trying to mend things between his two friends. "You'd do her a world of good if you two just sat down and talked out your differences."

Peter raised an eyebrow. He didn't expect Nigel to be so sage-like about the matter. He really did want to talk things over with Jessie but there was the problem of getting her to speak to him in the first place. Nigel seemed to have that covered too. "I'm going to go steal Jordan away for a dance. I'll send Jessie back."

Nigel went out to the dance floor, and moments later Jessie took his seat at the table. For a few minutes, she and Peter didn't say a word to each other. She seemed to be studying him. She wasn't glaring at him anymore. That was good, but the look she was giving Peter made him possibly more uncomfortable than the dirty ones. He sighed and asked, "What?"

"It's just...you seem so different." Jessie commented with only the barest hint of malice in her voice. She seemed more saddened by her observation than anything else. "You used to be so full of life, Rocky. You used to love nothing so much as the wind in your hair, and the pavement under your wheels. Now you spend all day hacking up dead bodies. Doctor Peter Winslow, Medical Examiner. Christ, Rocky, it's almost like you're..."

Peter prompted her after she trailed off. "Almost like I'm what, Jessie?"

She shook her head. "It's not important."

"No really. I'd like to hear this. What insult have you figured out to fit me? After all these years, what do I look like to you?"

She gazed into his eyes with a look he hadn't seen in years. It was a look that only Jessie could give him, and it cut straight through his soul. "I was going to say that it's almost as if you were Ventrue."

It wasn't an insult exactly, but it cut him just the same. It meant that she saw the emptiness in him. The spirit that he'd had when she knew him had been drained away steadily, by years of conforming to high society norms, years of grueling medical training, drug use, and a failed marriage based mostly on lust and a shared desire to get high. What did one say to the essential accusation of being a lifeless bureaucrat?

Back on the dance floor, Jordan and Nigel were having a merry old time. They'd danced to several upbeat new wave songs and were currently bonding over a shared love of the band Big Country. Jordan couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun. She'd never really focused her attention solely on Nigel before. He just always seemed to melt into the background of her consciousness, kind of like the moon. It's always there even if you don't take the time to notice its beauty. And Nigel was beautiful, in his way, Jordan began to acknowledge. She was finally taking time to recognize all the things about Nigel that she'd never bothered to.

Up until the last few days, Nigel had simply been one of Jordan's best friends. Nigel could always be depended on to cheer her up when she was down or to laugh with her when she made a joke that no one else got. He'd always just been her Nigel. But lately, he wasn't hers anymore. It had taken Jessie and the appearance of a romantic relationship in Nigel's life for Jordan to truly see him in anything but a platonic sense. And the more Jordan danced and laughed with Nigel out on that dance floor, the more she thought it should be her in Jessie's place. She wanted to be the one in his arms.

A slow song started to play and Nigel reluctantly began to lead Jordan off the dance floor. She made a decision and pulled him back to her. "Where are you going, Nige?"

"I just thought that..." Nigel sputtered. "Well, what I mean is, I didn't think a slow dance with me would be your cup of tea, luv."

Jordan gave him a self-deprecating grin and pulled him in close to her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "You thought wrong."

Nigel looked god-smacked. He wanted, now more than ever, to tell her how he felt about her. It was probably the worst time in the world to confess the feelings he'd kept inside for nearly a decade. But as he danced with Jordan Cavanaugh to a punk rock cover of "Mandy," the moment was pure magic, and Nigel found the words coming to his lips. He held her close and took a chance.

"I love you."

Neither one was sure who had said it first. Jordan pulled back, looking into Nigel's shocked eyes. Just to make sure he'd heard her, Jordan leaned in close to his ear and repeated the words. "I love you, Nigel Townsend."

Nigel looked around, making Jordan giggle nervously. "Nige, what are you doing?"

"Don't mind me, luv. Just looking for the hidden cameras."

This had the effect of breaking the tension between them. Jordan laughed out loud this time. It was a beautiful, melodic laugh and Nigel filed it in his quickly growing mental list of things he loved about her. "Jordan, I..."

"You love me too. I know."

It was even more wondrous coming from Jordan's lips than it could have been coming from his own. Nigel Townsend was on cloud nine. The woman he'd loved, for what seemed like an eternity, knew he loved her. And what's more, she returned his love. The only thing he could think of to do was kiss her. In this, at least, he could make the first move.

The kiss began soft and simple and gained heat as they went along. Tongues tangled and teeth nibbled and the world around them melted away. It was several minutes before either of them had could bring themselves to come up for air. When they did, Jordan tucked her head into the crook of Nigel's neck. In the midst of the crowd caught up in the upbeat tempo of the Clash, Nigel and Jordan were content to slow dance.

Peter and Jessie had fallen into an awkward, if civil silence. There was so much he wanted to say to her. He wanted to tell her he was sorry for leaving her. He wanted to ask her about what had happened to Zane and why she'd left San Francisco. All he could bring himself to do was make small talk and nurse his beer.

When Jordan and Nigel finally came back to the table, they were walking a bit closer to each other than they usually did. Jessie took one look at them and knew something had changed. She stood and addressed Nigel in a broken voice. "Right then. I think I'll just go home now."

As Jessie started to walk away, Nigel caught up with her. "Luv, I..."

"You don't need to explain anything to me, Nigel. I know you love her. You don't owe me anything. I just... Well, I hope you guys will be very happy together." With that she walked out of the club.

Nigel walked back to the table. Jordan gave him a sympathetic look. She really didn't have anything against Jessie. She knew the younger woman was hurting, and that Nigel felt bad being the one to cause that pain. "So what'd she say?"

Nigel shrugged. "She wished us happiness and left. I hope she'll be alright."

"I'll go after her, make sure she gets home alright," Peter offered. "Seeing as how you've stolen my date." He threw a few tens onto the table for the drinks and started after Jessie.

"Hey, Peter." Jordan called after him. He turned to look at her and she smiled. "Thanks for everything."

Jessie leaned against the wall of the club. She couldn't believe it. One minute she'd been dancing up a storm with her boyfriend, and the next, she'd been thrown over and was now crying in a dark alley. How had she gotten to this point? She had expected Nigel and Jordan to get together eventually. The Gangrel was observant enough to know that Jordan had feelings for Nigel that matched his own. She just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. Jessie also hadn't counted on it hurting so much. She hadn't intended to get as emotionally invested in Nigel as she was.

She was happy for Nigel and Jordan. Really she was. It was nice that someone could find contentment and love, even if it wasn't her. But that thought only made her cry harder. Maybe it was seeing Peter again. She'd been on an emotional roller coaster ever since that day in the bar. Was it only two days ago? He always seemed to have that effect on her. Even just the thought of what she'd lost when he'd left her, had been able to bring her to tears for over a decade.

It didn't help that he felt the need to track her down to that alley. Jessie quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, hoping Peter wouldn't notice. It didn't work.

"Are you alright?" he asked, leaning against the wall next to her.

She laughed bitterly. "Now he asks me this," she mumbled to herself before turning to him. "Yes, Rocky, I'll be fine. It's just been a rough night, is all."

"Yeah well, I don't buy it." She wasn't the only one who could look into a person's soul.

"You know, you've got balls trying to analyze me after all these years. What makes you think I give a damn what you buy, anyway?"

"Because I know you." he replied. "You were never as hard as you pretended to be."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You don't know shit about me. Maybe you did once, but you have no idea what I've been through since then. You left, remember?"

"Alright." Peter said softly. "So, why don't you tell me?"

Jessie was startled out of her anger for a second. She had at least expected him to argue with her. She scoffed. "You want to hear about my life?"

"Yeah, I want to know all the things I missed. Come on, I'll take you home and you can bitch me out all you like. Rip me a new one if you feel the need. It just doesn't make any sense to stand out here and yell at each other all night."

She regarded him skeptically for a bit before saying, "Okay. I'll bite. But I want some answers too."

Peter nodded. "Come on, my car's in the parking garage across the street."

"Oh, hell no." Jessie replied. "If we're going to your house, we can take my wheels."

She led him around the club to where her motorcycle was parked. Peter's mouth fell open at the sight of it. She chuckled. "What? You've forgotten how to ride, too?"

"That's the Indian." He croaked. "That's Stevie's Indian. I thought the only way he'd give that up is if he was dead."

Her expression darkened again and Peter realized what he'd said. It was true, then. Stevie-Ray was dead. Jessie's Sire was dead and Peter hadn't been there to comfort her when it had happened. He saw the pain reflected in her eyes and it brought him a new wave of sadness and guilt. "Oh, JJ. I'm so sorry."

She blinked back the tears brimming in her eyes and mounted the bike. "Get on," she said. "We have a lot to talk about, and I want to be able to get home before the sun rises."

Without another word, Peter climbed onto the back of the bike and put on the helmet Jessie offered him. They rode off, their silence sharper than the night air filling their lungs.

A/N: Hehe. More angst. Sorry if the change-up bothers anyone. I felt like writing a Jordan/Nigel fic, so I did. R&R please.


	4. Angst and Afternoon Breakfast

Chapter 4

Peter hit the light to his apartment and nervously led Jessie inside. He'd never been one to care what other people thought of him. His father had desperately tried to instill in Peter and Zane some sense of social propriety and decorum. It had never really caught on though. Peter attributed this to the fact that he and his brother had only really lived with their parents for half of each year, growing up.

Every year was the same. The boys spent the school year being home-schooled in the beautiful, yet oppressive Winslow house. Then, they were shipped off to live with their maternal grandmother in San Francisco for the summer. Meanwhile, their parents went on exotic vacations. In those six months out of the year, he and Zane would run wild and forget all the manners and constraints pounded into their brains by their father. In spite of all this, Peter Winslow found himself suddenly embarrassed at the state of his domicile.

"Sorry about the mess."

"Oh, come on." Jessie laughed. "This is nothing. It's all big, and swanky. I remember your room at your grandma's being much worse."

He smiled, letting the tension drain out of him as Jessie literally threw herself onto his couch. She sprawled out on it like she used to when she'd crash in his or Zane's room, after a row with her foster family. Jessie had seemed to have momentarily forgotten that she was mad at him, and Peter savored the contented smile on her face as she locked her fingers behind her head. "See? Comfy all around."

"Can I get you anything? Something to eat? Coffee? A pillow?"

For some reason, this seemed to bring Jessie back to reality. She was pissed at him, damn it. The Gangrel girl crossed the room to look out the sliding glass doors that opened onto the balcony of his fifth floor apartment. She crossed her arms over her chest and Peter could see the tension building in her shoulders, even under her jean jacket with its silhouette of a howling wolf. It was then that it hit Peter how much Jessie had changed from the self-conscious tom-boy he used to know. She was Kindred now, a member of Gangrel Clan. The questions began to resurface in his mind.

"So, why did you leave?"

Jessie knew what he was talking about instantly. "Funny. That was going to be my first question."

She still had her back to him and showed no sign of turning around. Peter wiped his face with his hands and took a seat on the couch. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Start with the point where you stepped out to get some air and never came back." Her voice was calm, but chillingly so.

Peter took a deep breath and spoke seriously. "I watched you and Stevie together all night. You were so happy to be joining the Clan. And he was practically glowing every time he looked at you. And then, when you were on the bed and he was actually Embracing you, it hit me. Up 'til then you were mine, Jessie. You were mine and I was yours, and that's all we ever had to be. Once we were Embraced, we would've both belonged to Stevie and the rest of the Clan. You wanted so much to be part of that family. But I already had a family. All I wanted was you."

At this point, Jessie did turn around. She had tears of blood streaming down her face, a frightening sight to any who weren't privy to Kindred abilities. It just made Peter's heart ache more as he listened to her.

"You are such a jackass. You know that?" she cried. "I'd have still been yours. Hell, the only reason I caught Stevie's eye, in the first place, was because of you. He wanted us both, together. Don't you get that? You as much as me. Stevie-Ray wanted us because he knew that nothing could ever come between us, not even him. He knew that you were my family. He said that our bond would strengthen the Gangrels. Everyone in the Clan knew that was true. Everyone except you."

Peter shrugged not knowing the right words to say to describe his feelings. "I freaked out. Okay? All I could think, all the way to the airport, was that I wasn't ready to be tied down like that."

"Don't you think you could have...I dunno... Maybe, told me this, before running off?!"

"And what would you have had me say?... Honey, I know you've never had a real family, and this is your chance to have one. But gee, I'm not sure it's for me?!"

Their voices were gaining volume until Jessie's words came out in a harsh shout. "It would have been a hell of a lot better waking up the next morning alone!"

Jessie was so angry at this point that she began unconsciously pacing the floor while she ranted. "Do you have any idea, what it's like to wake up and find the one person you care about most has abandoned you? No! Of course you don't! If you did, you'd have picked up a fucking phone and told me what the fuck was going on! But instead, I had to find out from Zane that you apparently packed up all your stuff and split. Do you know how long it was before I could actually sleep alone? Without Zane, or Cash, or Lorraina there offering a shoulder to cry on? I swear, between watching over me and the Prince, Stevie didn't have a moment left to himself."

"So, what do you want me to do about it now? Are there really any words that I could say to make it alright for you? For Zane? Cause I kind of doubt it."

Jessie stopped pacing and stood rooted to the spot as Peter broke down into tears. She was still so angry at him. But somehow, she felt the malice she'd built up toward him wash away with his tears. "I've hated you for so long, Rocky. After Zane died, I even thought of hunting you down and gutting you like a fish. That's how much I hated you. I always thought that if you had just been there, you could have brought him to his senses and he might have lived."

Peter nodded and cried bitterly. "It's my fault he's dead. It's my fault everybody's dead. It's my faulty your heart's broken and that my life's a mess. It's my fault I'm a pathetic, lonely junkie. Everything's my fault."

"You don't get it." Jessie replied, shaking her head. "I've spent so much time and energy hating you and all it served to do was royally fuck me up. I left San Francisco after the Brujah killed Stevie and Zane self destructed. That was supposed to be my home for the rest of my life, Rocky. All it ended up feeling like after you left was a jail cell. I looked everywhere for someone, something to make it bearable. I even hooked up with Zane for a while, but we were both too screwed up by then to stay together. All of that couldn't have been your fault, no matter how much I wanted to blame it on you."

All he could do was weep and shake his head, and repeat the same phrase over and over. "I'm sorry."

Jessie stared at Peter for a while. She studied the way his shoulders shook as he silently sobbed into his palms. He looked older than she had ever seen him, and not just chronologically. He looked like the world that he'd escaped to had sucked him dry. He wasn't her Rocky anymore. His name kept popping back into her head. Dr. Peter Winslow, Medical Examiner. It sounded so cold, so harsh, as if it was a costume he'd put on once, and had never been able to remove. Nigel had told her about Peter and what happened with his wife, and the fact he was in NA.

How could the boy she had known and loved so much disappear so completely into this shell of a man? Rocky couldn't be all gone. And in the moment that this thought occurred to Jessie, she made a decision. She felt her animosity slip away and be replaced with an uncontrollable urge to find someone she thought she'd lost a long time ago.

Peter heard an audible huff come from Jessie's direction. He couldn't seem to blink his tears away and focus, even when he heard her speak in a determined voice he hadn't heard in years.

"Aw, fuck it," she muttered.

His mind registered the softness of her lips on his, before anything else. Peter then caught the scent of her hair, and felt the weight of her body leaning over his. He pulled back in shock, blinking back tears to look into her crimson tinted eyes. Yet another look he hadn't seen for a long time lie there. She was looking at him with a mix of hurt and passion that meant that she was laying her heart bare for him. He was filled with hope and gratitude and a wave of lust the likes of which he hadn't felt in so long.

Peter tried to convey all he was feeling with the kiss that he returned. He caressed her tongue with his own and tangled his fingers in her hair. He shifted Jessie so she was sitting in his lap. They stayed that way, kissing and caressing, for what seemed like forever. Jessie pulled back suddenly, and Peter felt a stab of panic and loss shoot through him. "What's wrong?"

"I want you." She whispered. At this point Jessie was fairly trembling with lust and emotion.

"I want you too." Peter breathed in a husky voice. His jeans were already beginning to grow too tight, and he was beginning to tremble as well.

"Do you?" She asked, trying to convey something with her eyes. "We aren't the same kind anymore. It would be...different."

Peter had to think a moment before it occurred to him what she meant. Sex between a Kindred and a human was not without consequences. The human usually took on certain abilities similar to Kindred powers. It also resulted in a bond between the two that allowed the Kindred to control the human to an extent. The bond grew stronger if the human was allowed a taste of the Kindred's blood. He wondered briefly if Nigel was Jessie's Ghoul in this way. Peter decided that Jessie wouldn't use such a bond against him. He stroked her hair and leaned in close to her ear so his breath tickled her throat as he spoke. "In that case..."

Without further warning, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted them both off the couch. When, they were on their feet, Peter grabbed Jessie around the legs and hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She squealed as he carried her into the bedroom like that. Peter tossed her onto the bed and stood smirking at her as she bounced slightly. "That different enough for you?"

Jessie glared at him in mock fury before rising to her knees on the bed in front of him. She reached out and caught him by the belt loops and pulled him to her. "That was a dirty trick."

"It was, wasn't it? Well, what do you intend to do about it?"

An impish glint graced Jessie's eyes as she violently yanked him down onto the bed beside her. She straddled his hips and pinned his wrists above his head in one of her own hands. "Oh, I'm sure I can think of something."

* * *

Nigel blinked several times to clear his vision. When he finally could focus, he got very confused due to the fact he couldn't think of anywhere he might have fallen asleep that possessed a ceiling in that particular shade of lavender. "What the...?"

The next thing he became aware of was that his right arm was in bad need of circulation. When he turned to investigate the cause, Nigel Townsend's eyes fairly bugged out of his head. There, lying on said arm was Jordan Cavanaugh, sleeping like a baby. She also happened to be naked under the sheet that covered them both. To Nigel's further amazement, he seemed to be in a similar state of undress. He lay back down and took a few calming breaths in order to keep himself from hyperventilating. He was in bed, naked, with Jordan Cavanaugh.

Nigel kept playing this phrase over and over in his head, trying to figure out how he'd arrived at the rather unlikely state. He remembered dancing with Jessie. Oh God, what was he going to tell Jessie? He remembered Peter and Jordan arriving at the club. He remembered talking with Peter and dancing with Jordan. He'd said something to Jordan, or she had said it to him. What was it?

"Hmmm." Jordan moaned beside him, nuzzling the side of his chest with her face. "Morning."

"Uhh, good morning, luv." Nigel's voice cracked a bit. Then it hit him. Like a ton of bricks to his stomach, the realization came as to what had transpired the night before.

He had confessed his love to Jordan and she'd blindsided him by returning the words. Somehow, Jessie had figured out what was going on, and had left, followed in short order by Peter. Nigel and Jordan had continued dancing until the wee hours of the morning. At the end of the night, Jordan had invited him back to her apartment. They had made love all night and into the morning. It had run the gamut between sweet and loving to rough and fevered. It had been a night of magic for Nigel and he'd woken up with the woman he loved asleep in his arms. Or arm, as the case was. "Jordan, darling, could you move just a smidge? My arm's fallen asleep."

This earned him a hard slap to the chest. "If I didn't think you were trying to be cute, Nige, I might have to kick your limey ass for that."

Ah, now, that was the Jordan Cavanaugh he knew and loved. Nigel chuckled and pulled her into a tight embrace. "Just having a bit of fun, luv. Don't mind me."

She rewarded him with a kiss before pulling reluctantly away. "Want some coffee?"

"Only if you're making it, luv."

Jordan smiled genuinely at her lover. "I hope you like instant."

She grabbed Nigel's discarded t-shirt and pulled it over her head before going into the kitchen. She was able to rustle up some Taster's Choice, even in her half-awake state. Jordan mixed up two cups on the counter but, on the way to the microwave, she stopped short. The time on the digital read-out couldn't be right. "Shit!"

Nigel came into the kitchen wearing only his pants from the night before. "What's the matter?"

Even in her panic, Jordan took the time to appreciate the picture of Nigel's lanky physique. "I have to be at work in forty-five minutes."

"I thought you took the day off."

"No, YOU took the day off. Garrett only gave me 'til three to sleep in. What with Peter finding out about his brother and taking a short leave, and it being your day off, somebody has to pick up the slack. And I don't think Bug will be too happy if I leave all those bodies for him."

Nigel looked dejected for a minute before taking the cups from Jordan's hands. "Go get ready, luv. I'll whip us up some breakfast... or lunch, as the case may be."

Jordan broke out in a big grin. "Gee, if I'd have known I'd get a personal chef out of the deal, I'd have slept with you a lot sooner."

Nigel gave her a mock wounded look and popped the cups into the microwave. "Don't push your luck, Jordan."

"Alright, alright," she snickered, putting up her palms in surrender. "I'm going."

She ducked back into her room while Nigel gathered various food stuffs from her fridge for breakfast. While she'd gathered her clothes for work, Jordan thought of something. She arched her head around the bedroom door and called out to Nigel. He hit his head on the counter, under which he was searching for a pan. She snickered while he rubbed the top of his head.

Nigel glared at her, but his eyes danced in mirth. "What is it, darling?"

"I love you."


	5. Family and Red Velvet Cake

Chapter 5

Three weeks after the incident at the bar, Lily Lebowski was buzzing around the Morgue like a hyperactive bumble-bee on a mission. She'd found out it was Peter's birthday, after looking through his file. She'd been looking for a way to cheer him up after his return to work following the revelation of his brother's death.

Now, Lily had made it her mission in life to throw Peter the best birthday party ever. She'd set up a time for everyone to meet at the Pogue later that day, and harassed everyone at work into coming. Jordan had agreed to provide drinks and food, and hostess the shindig. They'd even compiled a tape of bloopers involving Peter, from several tapes Nigel had made, goofing off with a camcorder around the office. All in all, everything was going just as Lily had planned. There was just one loose end to tie up.

"What kind of cake do you like?"

Peter took the time to look up from the open body on the slab in front of him and look confused. "Huh?"

"What kind of cake do you like?" Lily repeated. "It's a simple question."

"Can we discuss this later, when I don't have my hands in entrails? I only have one other case after this today, and I'd like to punch out early."

Lily smiled, knowing that Dr. Macy had purposefully given Peter a light work load, as per her request. "Alright, but I want an answer within the hour."

"Aye, aye captain."

Lily giggled all the way to the break room. She had not been blessed with such a light workload today. She'd been up since 6 on five hours sleep and was in desperate need of coffee. Thankfully, though, most of her cases had finished up before lunch. She walked in to find Jordan and Bug contemplating a white box in the middle of the break table.

"Now, that's just embarrassing." Jordan commented.

Bug nodded. "It's pathetic really."

Lily rounded Bug to see what all the fuss was about. In the box lay a homemade cake, covered sloppily with whipped icing in the most violent shade of neon blue Lily had ever seen. In the center of the cake, the word "Rocky" was piped in jagged red icing.

"That's the ugliest cake I've ever seen." Jordan retorted.

"It's not ugly." Lily protested. Off the others looks, she shrugged. "Okay, it kinda is. Does anyone know how it got here?"

"I just opened the fridge and the box was in there. It wasn't labeled. So, I opened it to see what it was." Bug replied.

"What what was?" Peter asked, entering the room. He'd obviously scrubbed up and was absently rifling through the coffee creamer packets.

"Someone left a hideous cake in the fridge, for no apparent reason." Bug offered.

Peter looked over Jordan's shoulder in interest. As soon as his eyes fell on the cake, they lit up. He pushed between the others to get a better look, then broke out into a huge grin. "I can't believe it. She remembered!"

"Ok, who else is lost?" Jordan asked. Both Lily and Bug raised their hands. Jordan nodded, "Care to share your thoughts with the rest of the class, Peter?"

"Jessie," he muttered, searching for a knife to cut the cake with. The best he could come up with was a cheap plastic butter knife, which he waved around in victory. He began to cut the small, circular cake into wedges. "It's a tradition we have. Every year for our birthday she bakes red velvet cakes with blue icing."

"You're seeing Nigel's ex? I thought you two hated each other." Lily interjected. It was common knowledge around the Morgue that Jessie and Nigel had broken up. And all but a certain detective knew that Nigel and Jordan were now an item. But Peter and Jessie being together was news.

Peter shrugged. "Just call it a love-hate relationship."

"I'd say more hate, considering the cake." Bug retorted, "Looks like she's trying to kill you."

"That's just Jessie." Peter laughed, divvying up the blood-red cake onto several paper plates for his coworkers. "It's the only thing she can cook."

Just then, Nigel came up behind Jordan, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Allo, people. What's all the hubbub about."

"Apparently, Jessie baked Peter a birthday cake."

"Oh, crap!" Peter said slapping his forehead with his knife hand. He narrowly missed a dollop of icing to the eye. "I forgot to buy her a present! Lily, you gotta help me."

"Why would you buy her a present on your birthday?" Lily replied, trying not to laugh.

"They share a birthday, luv." Nigel replied. Peter nodded emphatically. He looked like in excited school boy.

"Alright, alright, I'll help you. Although, I don't see why you need my help."

"I've got to get the perfect present before nine, tonight. And I have no idea what to get."

Lily looked a bit panicked. "Nine? What's at nine?"

"Jessie and I are going out to meet some friends of hers. Why?" Peter replied.

"You didn't tell him about the party?" Jordan asked.

Lily let out a sigh of frustration. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

"You guys were gonna throw me a party?"

"It was Lily's idea." Bug huffed indignantly, having been left with the tiniest piece of cake. "She thinks you're in a funk."

Lily swatted the back of Bug's arm hard enough to draw a yelp from the man. She shrugged at Peter's questioning look. "I just thought, we're all family here. It would be nice if we all did something for you on your birthday. It was supposed to be a surprise for tonight, but since you have plans..."

"No," Peter interrupted, "I'm touched, you guys. Really. Look...I'll just have Jessie meet me at the party a little later than planned."

"Or better yet," Nigel interjected, "You could invite her, mate." The Brit hadn't seen his ex since the night of their amicable break-up and he was anxious to see how she was getting on.

Peter gave Lily a questioning look, to which she nodded. "Sure, if it's okay with Jordan. She's providing the venue."

"Just as long as any slapping of any kind is reserved for the bedroom." Jordan smirked.

Peter glared at her good-naturedly as the rest of them laughed. Dr. Macy picked that moment to burst into the room. "What is this, a coroner's convention? The least you people could do is look busy."

"Aw can it, Garrett. Have some cake." Jordan said, shoving a crimson slice at him.

He let out a sigh of resignation, pushing the dessert away. "Maybe later. Right now I need your assistance in Autopsy #2, Peter."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Peter called as his employer left the room. He gave Lily a pointed look. "So, about later?"

"I'll help you gift shop." She replied indulgently. "I've got about an hour of paperwork left. So, just come and get me when you're done."

He smiled back at her. "Thanks, Lil."

* * *

Exactly one hour later, Peter appeared in Lily's office in street clothes, ready for their outing. It took the two of them the better part of two hours running around town to find the perfect gift. As they exited one of Lily's favorite New Age stores in downtown Boston, Peter clutched the small gift wrapped box excitedly. "So you really think she'll like it?"

"I don't know, Peter." Lily laughed. "She's your girlfriend. But from what you told me about her personality, and her likes and dislikes, I think a rune pendant is a solid choice."

"And it's in jade. She loves green. Yep, you're right," Peter nodded, putting the box back in his pocket, as they began to walk toward his car, "she'll like it.'

"I don't mean to pry, but why are you so nervous?"

"I dunno." Peter shrugged. "I guess it's because I really want to make it work with Jessie this time. Before, we were just kids. I screwed up really badly when I left that whole world behind. It was the only place I ever really belonged, and I just left. Now, she's like the only link I have left to it, the last of my real family."

Lily's brow furrowed. She put a hand on his arm, stopping them both mid-stride. "You know, you do have a place like that with us at work. You're a part of that family now too."

"I didn't mean it that way. It's just..." He looked up at the sky, trying to find the right words. "You guys are all great, don't get me wrong, but the people I was around back then were so tightly knit. I don't know, I guess you'd have to see us all together to understand."

Lily looked about to protest, but then decided to let the subject drop. Peter had called his girlfriend during their shopping trip and Jessie had agreed to attend the party at the Pogue. By the time Lily and Peter got back to work, almost everyone had gone home to change for the party. Pretty much all of the cases had been taken care of for the day. The general consensus for those that weren't was that they could hold off until after the celebration. Peter went home to change while Lily opted to head straight to the Pogue.

* * *

Because of a delay in bringing in one of her bail runners, the party at the Pogue was in full swing when Jessie finally got there. Nigel was the first to spot his ex and smiled at the unusual picture she embodied. Jessie had traded in her usual skin-tight pants, tank top, and motorcycle jacket for a slightly more feminine look.

She entered the bar carrying a huge gift bag and wearing a deep green flowing broom skirt, a delicate peasant blouse and a jean jacket. Her hair was fixed in possibly the first up-do that Nigel had ever seen on her, and was bedecked in several bangle bracelets. She looked like an auburn haired gypsy throwback to the 80s. It was a look he'd have expected to see on Lily, but was certainly unexpected on his bounty hunter ex.

Jessie waved at Nigel and went up to the bar where Jordan was serving drinks. The two women smiled at each other nervously, both still a little awkward over their respective relationships with a certain Brit. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Not a whole lot, actually." Jordan replied. "Garrett told some pretty bad jokes, Bug's been trying to get up the nerve to ask Lily to dance, Nige has been channeling various members of Monty Python, and I've been doing my best impression of a good hostess."

"And the birthday boy?"

The boy in question was stealthily sneaking up behind Jessie and Jordan just smiled enigmatically. When Peter caught his girlfriend around the ribs, Jessie didn't even have the courtesy to look shocked. She simply gave him a peck on the cheek and snickered, having heard him coming from several feet away. Peter looked nonplussed for a moment then got a mischievous glint in his eye and began tickling Jessie mercilessly. Her squeaks and giggles started everyone laughing and gravitating toward the bar once more.

Nigel ducked behind the bar and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend from behind. "Well, now that we're all here, we can get this shindig off to a proper start."

"Okay, food or gifts first? That is the question." Garrett retorted.

"Food" Bug replied, "I'm starving."

"No, present's first, food second. That's how birthday parties are meant to go." Lily insisted, giving Peter a conspiratorial smile.

Peter gave Jessie a questioning glance. She shrugged. "Ask the hostess."

Jordan looked incredulous for a moment before Nigel produced a gold pound from his pocket, giving her a wry grin. "Flip away, luv."

"Oh, you're a big help, Nige."

"One of a myriad of reasons you love me."

Giving Nigel a playful swat in the arm, Jordan let out a long suffering sigh. "Okay, someone call it."

"Heads." Bug called, at the same time Lily cried out, "Tails!"

Eyebrows were raised all around, to which Lily replied. "What? I like to be unique is all."

"Oookaay." Jordan said giving her friend a look that was both humoring and loving at the same time. "Heads for food, tails for gifts."

She flipped the coin into the air, slapping it onto the back of her hand. She held it out for Nigel to read, and grinned ear to ear at the theatrical way he shouted, "Tails! Presents it is! Sorry, Buggles, you'll have to wait a bit longer for grub."

Lily practically squealed in delight, grabbing her gifts from behind the bar and handing them to the birthday couple. Peter smiled at her as he watched Jessie open the jade teardrop earrings she'd bought to complement his gift, before opening his own gift of chakra candles and packaged Chai tea. He was touched Lily remembered him commenting on the drink's calming effect on his nerves.

The pair was able to get through the rest of the gifts from Peter's friends fairly quickly. Most gifts were engineered toward them as a couple since very few of the Morgue employees knew much about Jessie's tastes. Bug gave them a gift certificate to his own favorite authentic Indian restaurant, self-consciously mumbling something about "real nann." Garrett bestowed two gift certificates to the Harley Davidson store, having seen Peter get dropped off at work on the back of a motorcycle more than once. Jordan and Nigel had both picked out gag gifts. The former giving Jessie a t-shirt reading "Dancing Queen" and Peter a gift card for a maid service. The later gave Peter a silver cross pendant composed of a mallet and stake, and gave Jessie a shot glass with the words BLOODY MARY written in dripping red script.

Then, it was time for the couple to present gifts to each other. Peter lifted Jessie up onto the bar, and produced a gold-paper wrapped box from his pocket. He reveled in the look on her face as she opened it to find the carved jade pendant. It had a symbol that looked like a boxy sort of letter N. Jessie held up the necklace for all to see, a mix of delight and awe showing on her face. Peter grinned wide. "It's a rune. Uruz. It means passion."

Jessie gave him a lustful look and a deep kiss that promised more later. She put her forehead against his and whispered a husky 'thank-you', before arching backward to pick up the bag she'd brought in. "Here."

"This is my present? All this?" Peter laughed, raising an eyebrow at the huge shopping sack that looked stuffed to the brim.

"Not exactly." Jessie shrugged at the look he gave her. "You'll get your present in a minute. Just open this first."

Again, Peter raised an eyebrow. He looked around, finding the others rapt with attention. _No help there_ he thought.

The first thing he felt well his hand thrust into the bag was the supple texture of well worn leather. He drew the garment out to reveal that it was, in fact, a leather jacket. But not just any leather jacket. He traced the large insignia of a silhouetted howling wolf's head on the back and looked up with an unreadable look in his eyes. "How?"

"I found it in the back of Zane's closet. Thought you'd want your old security blanky back someday, so I kept it. Call it a fit of whimsy." Jessie shrugged, smiling.

He heard a faint chuckle from over his shoulder at the 'blanky' comment, and looked to see Jordan clamping a hand over Nigel's mouth while trying to bite back a giggle of her own. "Please, continue."

Peter draped the jacket carefully over the bar and reached into the bag again. He found several packages of new guitar strings. "Okay, what are these for?"

"You know that old clunky acoustic your grandma bought for you guys?" He nodded and Jessie continued, "Lillie Langtry was gonna throw it out after... She said it was beyond repair, but I just couldn't let her. It's waiting for you at my place."

Again, Peter simply nodded. He now knew why she'd been so reluctant to bring these gifts to the party, as per his insistence. These were extremely sentimental items with very intense feelings attached. None of his co-workers could really appreciate how he felt about the circumstances of his brother's death, or how precious these gifts were. He tried to keep himself from tearing up as he reached in for the last two items left in the bag. One was a recordable videotape labeled "Winslow" on the top. "What's this?"

"I'm not really sure. It was Zane's, so I could never bring myself to watch the whole thing. I do know it has that birthday party at Wrigley's garage from that summer we worked as bike mechanics. Also, it has a bit of one of Zane's shows on it, I think."

The last thing in the bag was a Polaroid of a sleek black racing bike. Jessie stood beside it in the photo to give an idea of scale. Peter was taken aback that she would buy him such an expensive gift, but there was one problem. "Um, I really love the bike J.J. but don't you think it's a bit small for me? My legs are too long to ride it."

At this, Jessie giggled, then stuck out her tongue and grabbed the picture from him, stuffing it in the breast pocket of her jacket. "Of course it's too small for you, I bought it for me, silly."

"Well, then color me confused."

"I bought it for me, so I could give your real present." She replied, drawing something out of her other breast pocket and dangling it in front of his face. It was a keychain with the same howling wolf symbol from Peter's jacket cast in silver, and from it hung a single key. It was a keychain he'd seen his girlfriend use many times in the past few weeks. Before that, it had belonged to the man they had both admired like a father.

"The Indian?"

At this point, Lily could no longer hold back her curiosity. "What Indian? I don't mean to be rude, but is anybody else a bit confused?"

Nigel patted her on the shoulder when neither of the couple answered. Both had been swept away in the emotion of the moment and were now speechless. That left Nigel to answer, but Jordan beat him to the punch. "It's a motorcycle."

"Correction," Nigel retorted, "it's a very rare motorcycle. It belonged to an old friend of theirs."

Peter shook his head dispelling the silence that followed. "I can't take that. It was Stevie's. I don't deserve to have it."

"He wanted you to have it. Remember? He always said that if anyone could appreciate the beauty of that motorcycle, it was you." Jessie reasoned. "Besides, you don't have much of a choice. It's my birthday present to you, and if you don't take it I shall be very put out."

Seeing that Jessie's expression brooked no argument, Peter embraced his girlfriend. He let a few tears slip out with his repeated, "Thank you."

"Well," Jordan said as soon as the teary eyed lovers parted, "If that's it for the gifts, we'd better get on to the food. All drink orders must be placed now, or forever hold your peace."

While they morgue employee's were doing that, Jessie excused herself to the bathroom to "freshen up." Nigel, Garret, and Bug got in a hushed argument before the boss was unceremoniously shoved toward Peter's place at the bar, where the younger man was contemplating his beer. He looked up to the unlikely sight of Garrett Macy trying to get up the nerve to speak. "What's up Dr. Macy?"

"Well, we had a tape of bloopers from around the office all set up to show as entertainment. But... I guess the others...they're more interested in seeing some of that other tape. You know just seeing what you were like before any of us knew you."

Peter regarded the motley group incredulously. Then Bug, of all people, backed up his boss' statement. "Oh, come on Peter. It'll be fun."

"Yeah," Nigel piped in, "We all want to see you as a gangly teenager."

Seeing that everyone seemed to like the idea, Peter gave a long suffering sigh, and handed Nigel the tape he'd received from Jessie. In all honesty, he wanted to see what was on it too, and he was desperate to avoid the 'office bloopers.'

Everyone gathered the small television the bar was equipped with to view the tape. It started out innocent enough. It showed a long haired Peter in ripped up acid-wash jeans and a Gun's and Roses t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off. Next to him, a scruffy looking blond man with spiked hair sat inspecting three bright blue iced cakes on a card table nearby.

At least, it seemed to be Peter. That was until the young man in question started singing "Red Red Wine" at the top of his lungs over the din of the other voices coming from various people filling the room. A voice from camera yelled "Zane, can the reggae crap. If you're gonna sing, pick something bearable!"

"Hey Cash!" the voice called, when Zane switched to an even more irritating rendition of 'Mustang Sally', "Take the camcorder, will ya? I've gotta go put that dying turkey out of it's misery."

At that point, the real Peter switched places with the blond man. He was dressed not too differently from his twin, with the exception of short spiked hair and the afore presented leather jacket. He proceeded to wrestle his brother two the ground just as Zane began to beat on a motorcycle muffle with a screwdriver.

When Peter appeared on the tape, his co-workers all began to razz him over the earring he sported and his choice of clothing. "Yeah, yeah." Peter laughed. "Just watch the tape, jeez."

On screen, the twins continued to wrestle around the floor. Then a much younger looking Jessie entered the picture carrying two fistfuls worth of birthday candles. A slightly older man with long blond hair followed her with another handful of candles and a lighter. Zane howled from the head lock his brother had him in. "Stevie! J.J.!Rocky's trying to strangle me!"

The girl simply rolled her eyes and arranged the candles on the cakes. Once they were lit, she called the boys over and stood between them as they all sang 'Happy Birthday.' After they blew out the candles and divvied up the cake the tape cut to a different scene. An older looking Zane came through a curtain in the back of a spotlighted stage on a dimly lit club. He was dressed in black leather pants and an unbuttoned white collared shirt. He stalked up to the microphone like a true rock star and began to sing.

_It's a long hard road from creation to the grave._

The sound of his brother's singing hit Peter like a fist to the stomach.

_Too many lost souls down here. Too few of them are saved._

As he listened to the song, all the loss and heartache the young M.E. had been suppressing welled up inside him.

_It's a real big picture starring one and all._

Zane was dead. His brother was dead and he'd never get to see him again.

_Everyone here will play the fool. Everyone will crawl. Everyone will crawl._

Zane had been the one with talent, the one who really could have had all his dreams served up to him on a silver platter. But that would never happen now.

_I dreamed I was flying. I dreamed I was found_

Peter thought about how different his life would be if he'd stayed in San Francisco.

_beyond the barbed wire, high above the underground._

Zane might be alive. Then again, he might still have self-destructed.

_I dreamed I was flying. I dreamed I was free,_

He might have been able to protect Stevie from those Brujah on the rooftop, or he might not.

_flying higher and higher as the world fell below me_

The bottom line wasn't the 'what if's' though. For Peter it came down to the one big loss he couldn't bear, the loss of family. He'd give anything to get back that family from earlier on that tape; give anything to be the man he used to be. He didn't want to be Peter Winslow, Medical Examiner anymore. And it was that thought that sent him over the edge.

"Turn it off." Peter croaked, pressing his palms to his eyes to stem the tears threatening to fall.

"Your brother really had a great voice." Jordan commented. She, like the others, was totally absorbed by the performance playing out on screen. The group barely noticed the state their friend was in.

"Turn it off!." Peter cried, a bit louder this time.

That caught the group's attention and they all turned to see Peter pacing back and forth like a mad man. Lily, shocked out of her momentary trance, slipped into counselor mode. "Peter, what's wrong?"

His response was to eject the tape out of the VCR and throw it across the room. "I said TURN IT OFF!"

At this point, Dr. Macy realized that his employee had pretty much completely lost it. "Peter, calm down."

He whirled around and began to punch the bar repeatedly. "You don't listen. No one ever fucking listens to me around here!"

Nigel pulled Jordan behind him, trying to shield her from Peter's rage. For once, she didn't argue. None of them had ever seen him in this state before. None except for Garrett, after Peter's wife had died. But Peter wasn't high now and he wasn't depressed. He was violent, and that's what scared Garrett. The chief M.E. joined Bug in trying to bodily shield Lily from harm.

But she would hear none of it. Lily slipped from around them and slowly approached the man who, just this morning, had been happier than she'd ever seen him. She spoke in slow, measured tones. "Peter, you have to calm down. We can talk about this."

"You wanna talk Lily?" Peter growled, turning toward her. For a moment, he looked ready to attack her, then he whirled around again and continued to beat on the bar. "Sure you want to talk. You want to tell me what I should do. Everyone loves to tell Peter what to do."

Lily was about to respond when she felt a hand softly laid on her arm. She turned to see Jessie step in front of her with a somber expression on her face. Jessie spoke in the same measured tone that Lily had. "Rocky."

Unlike his reaction to his co-worker, his lover's voice had the effect of stopping his wrath. Jessie walked slowly up to Peter and wrapped her arms around him from the back. All the tension and rage seemed to drain from him at her touch. She pressed a kiss into his sweater between his shoulder blades.

"Rocky, look at me."

Peter allowed himself to be turned around to face his girlfriend. He buried his face in her hair and began to openly bawl. After a few moments, Jessie forced him to look at her. "What do you want, Rocky?"

"I want tttto go home again." He stuttered out. "I want my family back."

Jessie held his gaze for a moment. "Are you sure?"

He nodded and seemed to retreat into himself. Jessie seemed satisfied at this. She handed him his jacket and began to pack up their things into the giant shopping bag. Bug elected to be the voice of the group's confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Getting him out of here." She replied simply.

Lily shook her head. "Peter needs to get some help from a trained therapist. He's obviously more distraught than any of us could have ever..."

Jessie cut her off. "What ROCKY needs is to get away from you people for a while."

Seeing the reactions to this comment, Jessie softened. "Look we're both very grateful to all of you for this party and for everything else. But right now, Rocky needs to spend some time with some people who aren't connected to his life in Boston."

Before Lily could protest, the couple were halfway out the door of the Pogue. All the stunned people within heard before the door swung shut was Peter saying, "I'm very sorry, everyone."

As soon as she heard the door swing shut, Jordan shot out of the bar like a rocket, trailing her co-workers behind her. But all they could see of the retreating couple was the back of Peter's jacket and some exhaust as the Indian sped into the night. "Well," Jordan sighed, "Say what you will about me. I sure know how to throw a party."


	6. Of Raves, Races, and Two Angry Women

A/N: Sorry it's been so long/. Writer's block's a bitch. Have fun reading this installment. R&R please.  
Disclaimer: I own Jessie Renard and a few minor characters. Other than that, nothing. Enjoy. 

Chapter 6

This is a Very bad idea.

The thought kept repeating itself in Nigel's mind as he was tossed around in the passenger's seat of his girlfriend's jeep. After Peter's outburst, Lily had been upset and worried. Bug, like Nigel himself, had been stunned. Garrett had been angry. Jordan's overriding emotions had been agitation and curiosity. That was never a good combo for her. It had taken Jordan all of three seconds to decide to follow Peter under the guise of "for his own good."

Usually, when Jordan Cavanaugh got it into her head that she wanted to get to the bottom of something, she was like a dog with a bone. This time was no different in that respect. But on those occasions when getting to the bottom of something meant imminent danger to Jordan herself, or those around her, her friends and loved ones usually tried to step in. This time, the only one to object to Jordan's rash decision was Nigel. And somehow, Nigel was the one elected to chaperone Jordan's little rescue excursion. One of the drawbacks to being her significant other, he supposed.

Not that he minded following Jordan around on her adventures...most of the time. But right now it was giving him whiplash. What with all the breakneck turns she was taking. "Um, luv. Do you want to slow down a bit? I haven't got a chance to buckle my seatbelt yet, and I do so loathe diving through windshields."

"Very funny, Nige." Jordan said, keeping her eyes on the road and the motorcycle that was speeding several cars ahead. "If I slow down, we'll lose 'em. We were lucky enough that they stopped at those red lights in the first place."

"Not to be a nudge, but has it occurred to you that they may have noticed us following them?"

"Yes, luv. That thought had occurred to me." Jordan hissed condescendingly as she quickly passed a honking driver on the dark highway.

"Then, it may have also occurred to you that they may not want us going with them to where ever they are going. Hence the god-awful speeds."

"Nigel, I love you, but are you going to come to a point any time soon?"

Nigel finally managed to fasten his seatbelt and rolled his eyes heavenward as if looking for help. "My point is Jordan, that maybe we should just let them go. Maybe Jessie's right and Peter just needs some time away from us to cool off."

"And maybe Jessie's just going to get him into even more trouble. He wasn't acting this bad until she showed up. And really, Nige, how much do you actually know about the woman?"

It occurred to Nigel then to tell Jordan exactly how much he knew about his ex. He didn't like lying to his beloved, even if only by omission. But then he remembered the vows he'd taken upon joining the Herd. The face of Kerby Harris flashed in his mind. The Kindred would do whatever it took to keep their existence a secret from the world. For the safety of all concerned, he decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Damn it." Jordan growled, "Where the hell are they going? We can't even be in Boston anymore. What the hell could they be doing way out here in the boonies?"

A look out the window confirmed that they'd left the city limits and entered the Massachusetts countryside. Though not entirely unpopulated, the coastal terrain was still dotted with farmland and the occasional speckling of woods. Currently the jeep was being jarred over a gravel road just off the major road they'd exited. The landscape could only be described as more untamed than the city, more wild. A thought clicked in Nigel's brain. Wilderness. He should remember something significant about the wilderness. Jessie had told him that Gangrels liked the wilderness. They thrived under the moonlight, immersed in the elements. They were gypsies, her clan, and tended to congregate in wild places to commune with nature and each other.

That's when Nigel realized what Jessie and Peter's conversation in the bar had meant. Peter wanted to rejoin the family he had given up. The family he had given up was Clan Gangrel. When Jessie had asked Peter if he was sure, no one had known what they were talking about. Nigel got a sinking feeling in his gut as he realized her meaning. Peter was still a member of the Herd and Jessie had been offering to Embrace him. But from what Nigel knew of Kindred and Gangrel custom in particular, Jessie would have to claim Peter as hers in front of her Clan before that could happen. That's where they were going, to meet up with other Gangrels.

"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better." Jordan grumbled sarcastically as the ground under her wheels turned from gravel to dirt upon entering what looked to be the drive way to an abandoned farmhouse. Nigel couldn't have agreed more.

* * *

When the Indian rolled to a stop behind the large barn at the end of the property, Peter was very confused. Not just because of the events in the Pogue, the farm that Jessie had brought them to looked utterly deserted. He removed his helmet and dismounted from behind his lover. "We're meeting them here?"

Jessie smiled, taking off her own helmet. "They're not far. Listen."

Peter closed his eyes and took in the sounds around him. In the distance, he could hear dozens of voices. He heard raucous music and the roar of several bonfires. With both of them pushing, it didn't take much effort to get the motorcycle around the barn.

Immediately, Peter could see what all the fuss had been about. The barn apparently sat on a hill which dropped off into a vast field. Normally, there probably would have been a crop of some sort growing there. But presently, it housed what looked to be hundreds of people who'd come in cars, on bikes, with campers; a huge caravan of gypsies celebrating together under the stars.

"Where did they all come from?"

"From all over. Looks like a lot of Outlanders, but there have got to be some city Licks in there somewhere." Jessie smiled at her companions' wonder.

"They're all Kindred? Gangrels?" Peter breathed.

"Eh, there might be some Warm gypsies here, and there are prolly some Herd. I doubt any Garou showed. Massachusetts isn't exactly werewolf territory."

"Why...?"

"Why are they here? I'm surprised at you Rocky. I'd have thought you remembered the Feast of Enoia. Stevie always threw parties on this night."

Peter shrugged. "I guess I always thought they were birthday parties. I shoulda paid more attention."

"Well it's just another thing I'll have to teach you," Jessie whispered into his ear with a wolfish grin. "In the meantime, let's join the party. I wanna show you off."

Peter felt a wave of nervousness consume him as they wheeled the Indian down the slope toward the gathering. Now, he remembered that they weren't just here for entertainment. He had to be re-accepted into the fold if he wanted to survive in Gangrel Clan after his Embrace. And, seeing that he was the one who'd abandoned them, the odds were not in his favor. Gangrels were very big on loyalty. He just had to hope that no one here had heard about his past.

The soil of the valley had been plowed under to make way for a main gathering space on which stood a stage. A live band was playing. Several winding dirt roads ran off the main area and the path from the barn. Peter could see cars and motorcycles being raced around various tracks to the enjoyment of cheering spectators. After they'd safely parked the Indian among a group of bikes, Jessie took Peter's hand and they lost themselves in the throng.

* * *

"This is insane!" Jordan yelled over the music coming from the stage. Everywhere she looked, people were giving her and Nigel strange, almost hostile glances.

"You don't know the half of it." he muttered.

"What?" she yelled, holding a finger in one ear and leaning toward Nigel with the other.

"Jordan, I really don't think we should be here!" Nigel paused, sparing a glance for a rather burly, tattooed biker brushing past him. He nearly jumped a foot when the man flashed him a set of glowing golden eyes and growled. Grabbing Jordan, he pulled them into one of the quieter areas of the valley, away from prying ears. "We do stand out a bit if you haven't noticed."

"I hadn't noticed." Jordan replied in all seriousness. She'd been to her share of raves back in college and this didn't look to be much different. It was just on a grander scale. The panicked look on Nigel's face however, told her that he felt like a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. "Look, we'll just find Peter, talk some sense into him, and then we can be on our way."

Nigel grunted in frustration as Jordan dragged him back into the mass of people. There were so many things wrong with this scenario, and all of them were running through his head. First off, they were two ordinary humans, wandering through a gathering of people who ate ordinary humans for breakfast, literally. Second, while Nigel was reasonably sure he could protect himself by simply removing his shirt and displaying his Herd tattoo, that might raise an eyebrow with Jordan. And finally, Jordan was on a mission that could very likely get them killed if a Kindred decided she was asking too many questions, and Nigel couldn't manage to talk her out of it.

Luckily, …or not, depending on your point of view, it didn't take Jordan much longer to track down her query. Peter and Jessie had joined one of the many congregations sitting around the bonfires that littered the valley. Peter sat on the ground in front of Jessie, who sat on a log with several others, holding her boyfriend's shoulders possessively. They were listening to a long haired man in a Guns 'N Roses t-shirt tell an animated story.

Jordan wasted no time approaching them, though she did have the grace to quietly come up from behind them. She didn't want to draw too much attention to what could turn out to be a heated debate. She grabbed Jessie's shoulder, getting both her and Peter's attention. "We need to talk."

* * *

Meanwhile, another set of people had joined the party. The leader of the small band of Gangrels was the first to dismount from his parked motorcycle and head into join the celebration. The others wordlessly followed suit.

It had been some time since the blond Ancillae had been to a Feast of Enoia celebration. There hadn't been one in his home city since his Sire was killed. He almost wished he'd just come to enjoy the festivities. The real reason for his attendance of a gathering, so far from home, was to drum up support amongst his brethren.

He had come to Boston on the tail of a pack of Ravnos. The leader of the pack in question had attacked the Prince of his City. Months had gone by after the Ravnos had narrowly escaped the Ventrue Prince's wrath, until a week ago. A call had come in from the Prince of Boston, requesting aid from her brood-brother and fellow Prince to defeat the very same Ravnos Pack. Being a loyal subject, as well as the Prince's personal bodyguard, the Gangrel had agreed immediately when his Prince had asked him to track the Pack down in Boston and bring back the head of their leader.

"Who are we looking for?" asked a small brunette Gangrel girl trailing obediently behind him.

"A big Indian guy, name of Redwind. He's the Primogen of the Boston Gangrels. Teeg tells me you can't miss him." the blond man replied.

"Whoa, man." commented a scruffy looking Asian teen, walking nearby.

"What is it, Jake?"

"Check it out." Jake drew his superior's attention to a group of four people standing nearby arguing. "I didn't know J.J. was in town."

The group of half a dozen Gangrels regarded the woman. Nobody recognized the lanky, black haired man, or the slender brunette with her. However, the blond Gangrel's eyes flared angrily when he glimpsed a tall man on J.J.'s arm wearing a Gangrel insignia jacket.

Jake let out a whistle when he saw the man. "I'm seein ghosts, bro. I thought he was dead!"

* * *

"You guys should not be here!" Peter said for the third time in as many minutes.

"And you should?" Jordan scoffed folding her arms over her chest. "Look around. It looks like you stepped into a bad re-enactment of Roadhouse! You scared the crap out of all of us back there. And now you've decided to what?...Join a caravan?"

"Goddamnit! This is none of your business!" Peter grunted under his breath. The light squeeze that Jessie was giving his arm reminded him that they were surrounded by people who were judging every move he made. "Go home Jordan."

Jessie tried to appeal to the more logical of the pair at that moment. "Nigel, you need to get her out of here, now."

"I'm trying, luv. Believe me. She's absolutely unreachable when she gets like this."

"Why do I feel like there's something big going on here, and everybody's in on it but me?" Jordan said, glaring at Nigel and Peter.

"Look, I'll explain anything you want later. But right now you have to..."

Peter never got to finish his sentence as he was tackled from behind. He struggled for a few seconds with his assailant, aware that they were drawing a crowd. Then, Jessie stepped in, hauling the two apart by their collars, and Peter got a good look at his attacker. "Oh shit."

Jordan was about to start another interrogation but Nigel pre-empted her by clamping a hand over her mouth. She was about to yank it away when she saw what might have been the most commanding look she'd ever seen in her lover's eyes, directed at her. His gaze clearly said, keep your mouth shut.

Jessie finally got both men set on their feet, just far enough apart for comfort. She briefly glanced over Peter, looking for bruises and scratches, before turning on the blond man. "Cash, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

The Primogen of the San Francisco Gangrels adjusted his jacket, trying to regain some dignity in the eyes of his clanmates, who had gathered around during the scuffle. It wasn't everyday he got put in his place by his brood-sister, his younger brood-sister no less.

"That can wait. Right now, I wanna know what the hell you're doing hanging out with this grease-stain." Cash grumbled.

"What did you call me?"

Peter drew himself up to his full height on the other side of Jessie, upon hearing the insult. The two men painted a comical picture to the casual observer. They were trying to get in each other's faces to spite the woman in the middle holding them apart. Peter stood at least a head taller than Cash, if not two. But any Kindred observer knew that the shorter man was, by far, the bigger threat.

Jessie ignored both their barbs and turned to her brother. "What I'm doing with Rocky is really none of your business. But since you asked, he's mine now. We're together."

Cash's eyes nearly bugged out at this. Only the pointed glances Jessie was sending toward the two human's she'd been talking to tipped Cash off that he needed to be discreet. Instead of lashing out like he so wanted to, he calmly scrutinized the man who had once been his best friend.

"So you're back to wanting to be one of us huh? You wanna join the family? What makes you think you're worthy? Of us or of her?" Cash nodded toward his sister.

Peter decided not to rise to the bait...too much. "Nothing. That's not really my call, nor is it yours, Cash. It's for Jessie to decide."

"And I've already made my decision." Jessie insisted, looking at her brother pointedly.

Cash's scowl slowly morphed into a sly smile as an idea occurred to him. "Well, you know just cause you join the family, doesn't make you one of us, Rocky. You gotta prove yourself."

Peter began to worry. If "proving himself" meant going a round or two with Cash, he knew he didn't have a chance in hell. Cash was Kindred, as well as being a Primogen of a band of Gangrels. Add to that the fact that Cash had brought at least five of his loyal brethren from San Francisco, and that the entire valley was filled with Gangrels, and things did not look good. But luckily, a fight wasn't what Cash had in mind.

The blond Gangrel nodded toward a row of racing bikes. "That is, if you can remember how."

"Cash." Jessie growled in a warning tone.

Nigel had removed his hand from Jordan's mouth during the course of the discussion and her curiosity got the better of her. "Peter, what's he talking about?"

"He's talking about racing." Jessie replied, watching the staring match going on between the two men, intensely. "And the answer is no, Cash."

Peter glared hard at the Kindred man. He knew when he'd arrived at the celebration that he would have to prove himself in the eyes of Gangrel Clan. He just hadn't anticipated this particular challenge from this particular Gangrel. Peter took a deep breath and matched Cash's cocky grin with one of his own.

"You're on."

A cheer went up in the crowd surrounding them. Cash's wolfish grin grew. Jessie shook her head in defeat. Peter looked determined. Jordan looked confused. Nigel looked ready to throw in the towel completely.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to set up the race. They had to find appropriate racing bikes for both Peter and Cash. Cash had no problem finding one, but Peter's long legs required that he find a racer fit to accommodate a taller rider. Finally, a hard looking Gypsy woman who stood an inch above Peter offered hers up.

Jessie had the job of standing on the side lines with Nigel and Jordan. Peter gave her a kiss on the forehead. "You don't need to do this."

"Sure I do," Peter insisted, zipping up his jacket. "Don't worry, baby. All I have to do is keep up."

With that, he went to line his bike up with Cash's at the starting line. When a shot rang out, signaling the beginning of the race, only Nigel and Jordan were paying enough attention to see Jessie wince. Nigel put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Now what was that all about, luv?"

"We'd better get to the top of the hill with the others. The view of the race will be better up there." Jessie replied.

Jordan looked shocked. She couldn't believe that Nigel was actually moving to follow Jessie up the hill. He turned and smiled at her and motioned for her to follow. That broke Jordan out of her reverie. She ran up the hill next to Jessie, her anger flaring. "Does it concern you at all that you've got Peter doing something that could get him killed?"

Jessie finally turned to face Jordan. "You know, I tried to humor you for Nigel's sake, and for Peter's. But you are really starting to get on my nerves. Rocky says he needs to do this...he needs to."

"He needs to race around on a motorcycle at ungodly speeds?" Jordan asked incredulously. Jessie started to walk away but Jordan caught her around the shoulders just as she got t to the top of the hill, where the rest of the crowd had gathered. "Peter has been acting strange ever since you got to town. I know you two used to have a thing, but what makes you think you know what he needs now? I'm sure his friends know better than you."

Jessie's eyes flared. "You know better than me, do you? You don't know anything about me or Rocky. We used to race like this after breakfast every morning. You and his other 'friends' have him hacking up half a dozen bodies before lunch!"

"Ladies, if I may say.." Nigel broke in, having been silent up until then.

"What?" both women shouted, turning their attention from each other to Nigel.

"Well, it seems the man in question has things quite in hand."

Jordan and Jessie followed Nigel's line of site to where the race was winding down. In their fight with each other, they hadn't noticed the cheers and hollers going up around them. At present, Cash was in the lead... but not by much. As the two riders were rounding the final turn in the track, Peter was able to make a jump that allowed him to cross the finish line at just the same time as his opponent. However, as he landed the bike he was riding tipped over, throwing Peter several feet into the dust.

Jessie led the crowd running down the hill. When she reached the two men, Cash was dismounting while Peter lay prone in the dirt. She stopped only long enough to look Cash over briefly and slap him in the back of the head before running over to her lover. "Are you happy now? If anything's happened to him I will kill you!"

Peter lay on his back in the dirt. As Jessie gently pulled off his helmet, he looked to be unconscious. She shook him gingerly and murmured, "Baby?"

First, he peeked one eye open and then a smile spread slowly over his features. Jessie glared at him, then hit him in the stomach with the helmet. "You are an ass!"

Peter was laughing hysterically by the time Jordan and Nigel pushed their way through the crowd. "Did you see that?" he asked his girlfriend, who'd pushed herself up to stand. "Did you?"

"You could've been killed, you jackass!"

"Nah, he can take it." Cash smiled, giving Peter a hand up to stand. "He's one of us."

Jordan looked around at the various people patting Peter on the back, Jessie glaring at him, and Nigel's humorous grin and threw her hands in the air. "I give up."


	7. Ravnos and Resignation

A/N: I know it's been a long time between updates. Sorry for that. Life just got in the way. Hope you like this chapter. Read & Review please

Disclaimer: I own Jessie Renard and no one else.

Chapter 7

It had been about a month since Peter's birthday. Garrett had put the young M.E. on probation after his behavior at the party. This consisted mostly of Peter getting swamped with paperwork and lab-work. Most of his co-workers, with the exception of Nigel and Lily had been steering pretty clear of Peter as of late. He wasn't allowed in the field until Garrett determined that he was trustworthy again. It was near closing time late in the week when Peter walked into his employer's office.

"Dr. Macy, can I talk to you?"

Garrett looked up from the charts he was reviewing, staring coolly over the wire frames of his glasses. "If this is about reassigning you to the field, you'll have to wait for your next evaluation. I believe it's due in about three weeks."

"But that's just it, sir." Peter replied, setting a typewritten note on Macy's desk. "I don't intend to be here in three weeks."

Garrett looked over the document, only slightly surprised by its content. "You're resigning?"

Peter nodded. "I just don't think this is the place for me anymore."

The older man was silent for a moment. "Peter, I know things have been tough for you lately, but that doesn't mean you should just walk away from your career. You know it's unlikely that you'll get another job as a doctor and I can't in good conscience give you a recommendation letter."

"I know." Peter nodded. "The truth is I've decided to leave the medical profession entirely."

Garrett raised an eyebrow at this, prompting Peter to continue. "I never really wanted to be a doctor in the first place. It was what my family wanted, my father especially. So, I went along with it. Now… I don't know. I'm not happy, and my life is going down the tubes because of it. I just think it's time for a change."

Garrett thought about this for a second. It did make sense. Peter had never really enjoyed his work as an M.E. and with his behavior of late, maybe a change was in order.

"What will you do?"

Peter shrugged. "Finish out my two weeks. Then, I think I'll go back to San Francisco for a while. Look a few people up."

Garrett didn't have to ask what role Jessica Renard was playing in Peter's decision. It was clear that the couple had only become closer after the events of the birthday party, and Jessie often visited the office to talk to the young M.E. As far as Garrett was concerned, though, Peter's personal life was none of his business as long as he didn't bring it to work.

"Alright, I'll file your letter of resignation. You can finish your last two weeks in the office, though. I can't put you back in the field."

Peter nodded his understanding and left his boss's office to return to his paperwork. When he got to his desk, Nigel was across the room tapping away at a keyboard.

"How'd it go?"

Peter looked up at the Brit. The two men had become a close friend over the last few weeks, considering all they had in common. He shrugged. "Okay. Wasn't like I was expecting him to put me out in the field my last two weeks or anything."

"Yeah but still, it would've been nice I bet."

Peter gave a concurring grunt as Jordan walked in. "Hey can you guys come and look at this guy they just wheeled in? There's something bizarre about him, but I can't put my finger on just what it is. Bug's in with him now, doing the preliminary."

"Just let me finish this diagnostic, and I'll be right in, luv." Nigel said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

Jordan smiled, "Okie dokie. Peter?"

He shook his head. "I'd love to but I can't. I gotta get these files into Macy by the end of business."

Jordan shrugged. "Suit yourself. Autopsy #1 when you're ready, Nige."

With that, Jordan walked out. A few minutes later, Jessie walked in carrying a cookie tin and a sandwich box. She had come to pick Peter up from work as per usual at the end of the day. She set her burden on the desk in front on Peter, then kissed his forehead before perching on the corner. "Hey, I thought you might be hungry. So, I picked up something on the way here."

"What? Nothing for me, darling?" Nigel pouted from his spot behind the computer.

"You can have some of the cookies." Jessie offered.

Just then, shouts could be heard coming from the hallway. Peter, Nigel and Jessie were all out the door in a heartbeat. The shouts were coming from Autopsy #1. The three entered the room to find Bug and Jordan staring at an empty autopsy table.

"This is insane." Jordan said. "He was here just a minute ago."

"Lose something, luv?"

Jordan gave Nigel a withering glance and Bug shook his head. "I don't get it. I only turned my back for a second to look at the file. When I turned back, the body was gone!"

"How do you lose a dead body?" Peter retorted. "It's not like it can just get up and walk away."

Immediately after the words left his mouth Peter's eyes went wide. He and Nigel shared a look of mixed foreboding briefly before turning to where Jessie was standing. She was silent as the grave, her back rigid as her eyes scanned the room for something. She looked like she was trying hard to sense something that the other occupants of the room couldn't. And she looked worried.

"J.J. is something wrong?" Peter almost didn't want to ask. He'd never seen his girlfriend act this way in public before. He'd only seen that expression on Gangrels preparing for the hunt, and it worried him. The others seemed to have just caught on to the sudden tension in the room as well.

Jessie cocked her head to the side. She didn't turn toward the others or even look their way as she continued to scan the room. After a moment, she froze speaking in cool measured tones. "Everyone needs to leave now."

"What are you on about?" Bug grunted, hoping she wasn't going to make another scene.

Jessie held up a hand, indicating Bug should be quiet. "Rocky get everyone out of here. Tell Macy to evacuate the Morgue. I don't care, do what you have to but get everyone out. Then, call Cash."

"J.J.?" Peter was already backing up toward the door. A black mist was rising out of the corner of the room that Jessie was staring at. Nigel had a hold on Jordan's arm and began pulling her toward the door. Bug was right behind them.

Jordan was having none of it though. "What the hell is that?"

"Go!" Jessie shouted.

The black mist reared up and came flying over Jessie's head as the four M.E.s went running out the door. Bug ran out ahead, slamming face first into Dr. Macy as he exited his office for the night. Both men collapsed to the ground. Meanwhile the three others stopped short as the mist rounded them. It hovered for a moment before solidifying into the form of a dark haired man dressed in gypsy clothes.

The man's eyes glowed with a milky light and he leered at Jordan. He spoke with a husky foreign accent as he reached out to caress her cheek. "Hello pretty one."

Nigel grabbed the man's arm, throwing it away from Jordan. He retaliated by backhanding Nigel's jaw, sending him to the ground. The dark haired man growled, baring a set of razor sharp fangs. Peter pulled Jordan behind him for protection. The vampire reached up to grab him by the throat and a shot rang out. The vampire growled in pain, a dark red stain marring the fabric over his right shoulder. Peter joined Nigel on the floor. Jordan dropped to her knees to check on them, and turned around just in time to see Jessie lower the barrel of her gun.

The dark haired vampire hissed at Jessie. "Oh look, a Gangrel with a gun. How quaint. Do you protect these mortals, _gadge_?"

"I protect what belongs to me." Jessie growled in reply. "You shouldn't have come here. This isn't the place for this fight."

The vampire chuckled, his eyes turning into the green slits of a cat's. "But only the dark one and the tall belong to you. Besides, I can go where I please and take what I want, _gadge_. I don't have to play by your Prince's rules... and I only want the pretty one. I hunger for beauty."

"Ain't nothing so pretty as a good old knife fight." Jessie retorted. She drew a wicked looking bowie knife out from inside her jacket. "What do you say we take this party outside into the moonlight?"

The gypsy vampire smiled evilly. "You think you can take me child? A _gadge_ girl like you wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Only one way to find out." Jessie shrugged

He seemed to mull it over for a second. Out of the corner of her eye, Jessie could see Dr. Macy rising to his feet. He was obviously going to try to attack the gypsy from behind. Jessie shook her head at him, indicating that he should back off. The exchange was not lost on the vampire, whose grin only widened.

"Alright _gadge_. I'll play your game. But just to make it interesting, let's raise the stakes!"

With that the vampire spun around, raking razor sharp claws across Macy's chest. As the head M.E. crumbled back to the ground, the vampire morphed back into black mist, flew down the hall and through the door leading to the building's main staircase.

Jessie ran to were most of the coroners in Boston lay on the floor. She checked briefly on Nigel and Peter before giving Garrett a look-over. His injuries were mostly superficial but a few of the deeper gashes would necessitate an ambulance. Bug was already pressing his lab coat to his boss's chest though, so Jessie started for the stairs.

Peter was able to catch her by the arm halfway down the hall. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You can't go after that thing."

Jessie's eyes were glowing a bit but she still managed to look sheepish. She kissed her boyfriend's cheek and gently pried his hand from her arm. "I have to go up there. Call Cash. Have him bring his team and an ambulance. He needs to alert the Prince."

"Yeah. And what exactly am I supposed to tell him?" Peter shot a glance toward his befuddled coworkers.

"Tell him I found his Ravnos."

With that she was gone up the stairs. Peter stared at where Nigel, Jordan and Bug were attending Dr. Macy. He let the gravity of Jessie's words sink into his brain.

"Shit." Peter sighed quietly, then made a b-line for the nearest phone.


	8. Best Out of Three

A/N: Hey waddaya know, a relatively quick update, this time. Have a read and see what you think. Then review, please.

Disclaimer: _Kindred: the Embraced_ characters belong to John Leekly Productions and Spelling Television. All references to _Vampire: the Masquerade_ belong to WhiteWolf. _Crossing Jordan_ characters and themes belong to Tailwind Productions and NBC. Jessie Renard, the Prince of Boston, and a few other minor characters belong to me.

Chapter 8

It took exactly eight and a half minutes for Cash to arrive at the Morgue after getting off the phone. That was the longest eight and a half minutes of Peter Winslow's life. Cash had told him to stay with the other M.E.s and try to keep everyone calm until his team got to the scene. An ambulance arrived almost simultaneously with the crew of four Gangrels. The coroners had all congregated in Dr. Macy's office, so they could lay the injured man on the couch. As soon as the head Gangrel walked into the room, Peter was on him.

"It took you long enough!" Peter growled under his breath. The EMT's were attending Dr. Macy and two cops were keeping the other M.E.s busy while the Kindred crew had a look around.

"Calm down." Cash replied, pulling the taller man into the hallway.

"I need to get up there." Peter said. He tried to push his way past and get to the stairwell, but Cash had an iron grip on his arm.

"Two of my people have already gone up to check it out." Cash said, leveling a stern gaze at his friend. "I can't have you going up there and getting yourself killed. J.J. would have my ass."

"She could be hurt!" Peter growled. "You didn't see that guy…. he was… and anyway it's not like anyone will notice. They're all wrapped up giving statements too those cops."

"Yeah, I know. They're Kindred cops."

"What the hell is going on here, Cash?" Peter whispered, an undertone of pure venom lacing his words.

"Look, Rocky, that Ravnos attacked in a very public place, in front of a bunch of witnesses. The Prince wants this locked down now. I don't like it anymore than you do. But if we can't manage to mask your friends' memories in there soon enough, the Masquerade will be shot to hell. Then, we're all screwed."

Cash sighed looking very tired. "I need you on board here, pal. Every minute I'm down here trying to calm you down is another minute I'm not finding out about J.J."

Peter's reply was interrupted by a young Asian Gangrel coming up behind Cash. Peter recognized him vaguely from the Feast of Enoia. The boy looked harried and was covered in blood. He whispered something in his superior's ear that visibly shook the tough Gangrel boss.

"Wait here." Cash sternly told Peter. He didn't wait for an answer but followed his clanmate swiftly through the entrance to the staircase.

Peter shook his head. "Like hell I will."

As he raced off after Cash, Peter failed to notice Jordan staring after him. She'd slipped out into the hall unnoticed while the cops were occupied taking statements from Nigel and Bug. She'd been hiding, quietly listening to snippets of the conversation between Peter and his friend. Jordan had very little idea what the conversation was about, but she had managed to pick up the fact that there was some kind of cover-up going on. It took Jordan barely a minute to decide to follow Peter up the stairs to the roof.

* * *

The scene on the roof had Peter frozen in his tracks. A few feet away Cash and the kid… Peter's mind blankly supplied that his name was Jake…had joined a third scruffy looking man kneeling over a bloody prone form. Jessie's clothes were shredded and falling off her as she lay in a pool of her own blood.

The wind picked up and began to howl through the night sky, breaking Peter out of his reverie. He ran over to Jessie, falling to his knees beside her. He lifted Jessie's body into his lap, cradling her in his arms. As he looked her over, Peter's breath caught in his throat. She was so battered, he barely recognized her as his girlfriend.

"Is she…?" Peter's voice trailed off as he looked up at Cash.

"She's alive." Cash nodded. "But barely. She's unconscious. We've contained the bleeding for now. But we need to get her to a safe place and get her a transfusion as soon as possible. She'll slip into Torpor if we don't."

"We can take her back to my place." Peter said wiping blood caked hair away from Jessie's forehead.

Cash shook his head. "It's too risky. The Ravnos has seen you now and he knows you're connected to us. He'll be able to track you down."

"Then he'll be able to track you guys down too." Peter growled in frustration.

"I've got a place," said a voice from behind them.

Peter whirled around to see Jordan standing behind him. Cash let out a warning growl that sounded more animal than human. The other Gangrels crowded around Jessie, trying to block the older woman's view of the body.

"Jordan, you need to get out of here. Please, go back downstairs with the others." Peter pleaded. Every moment he had to deal with Jordan, Jessie was slipping away.

"Look, I don't know much of what's going on here Peter. But it looks to me like Jessie doesn't have a lot of time. Now, I've got a place that you and your friends can take her so you can help her. I won't ask you any questions, right now. But I am gonna want an explanation later." Jordan replied, with a challenging look.

Peter looked at Cash, who shook his head fiercely. "No way in hell I'm bringing her into this. The Prince would have my head on a platter."

"Ah but, I haven't the taste for cranium I once had."

Another woman had arrived on the roof. She was dressed in a stylish business suit and flanked by two similarly dressed guards. Her posture screamed authority as she walked over to the group. As she passed Jordan, her guards stayed behind, taking up positions around the confused M.E.

"What's the damage, Primogen?" The woman stooped down next to Peter, careful not to get any blood on the hem of her skirt.

"He took out one of our San Francisco Gangrels, Prince. She tried to take him on alone and stop him from getting out to the rest of the City but the bastard overpowered her." Cash replied. He stood up straight as he addressed her, almost looking like a soldier reporting to his commanding officer.

The Prince of the Boston Kindred nodded taking in the scene before her. "And the Masquerade?Has it beenbroken?"

"He injured the head coroner here. Several of the others viewed the incident. A few of your Ventrue cops are down with them now, trying to alter their memories."

"And this human?" The Prince indicated Peter, who seemed lost in his own world, totally focused on Jessie.

Cash shook his head slightly. "He's Herd. He's been claimed by clan Gangrel. Our main problem is that one."

Cash pointed toward Jordan, prompting the Prince to walk over to the exceedingly nervous looking woman. Jordan had the distinct impression that she had met the suited lady somewhere before. But as the blond Prince coolly surveyed her from head to toe, Jordan couldn't help but feel a little anxiety.

"Who are you?"

The Prince gave a little laugh at the tone of Jordan's voice. She shook her head with a smile. "You do remind me so of your mother, Miss Cavanaugh."

"My mother?"

Jordan was visibly shaken by the words. But the Prince had already shifted her attention back to Cash. "You can bring your clanmate back to my home, Primogen. It will be safe there to rehabilitate her. My people can take care of the doctors downstairs. In the meantime, have the rest of your Gangrels get back on the trail of that Ravnos. I want his body laid before me as soon as possible."

With that, the Prince turned back to Jordan. "You will come with me."

As she heard the words, Jordan looked directly into the Prince's glowing eyes. They seemed to burn into her very soul. Before she knew what was happening, Jordan's feet were moving her along after the woman.

The Ventrue guards followed close behind the two women and Peter was left alone with the three Gangrels. Cash bent down and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. Peter was rocking rhythmically back and forth now and Cash had to shake him a bit to pull him out of his daze.

"We've got to move her now, Rocky." Cash said gently. "We've got to get her to the Prince's house."

Peter simply nodded. He picked his beloved up off the concrete, careful not to jar any of her injuries. Silently, he followed case back down the stairs into the lobby of the Medical Examiner's Office.

They didn't have a chance to head for the exit, though. One of the Prince's guards was blocking the door while the other stood behind Nigel, holding the angry looking Brit's wrists behind his back. The Prince stood to the side, arm-in-arm with a dazed looking Jordan. Nigel was practically foaming at the mouth trying to get to his girlfriend.

The Prince turned to Cash. "Do you know this man, Primogen? My people have already taken the injured doctor and the other to the hospital. But this one refuses to go."

"What've you done to Jordan?" Nigel yelled.

"He seems resistant to our Dominance, Prince," said the guard restraining Nigel, "His mind does not yield."

"Explain this, Primogen!" The Prince looked quite irritated.

Cash didn't have the chance to answer as he was cut off by Peter. "He's Herd. Jessie used to date him."

"Is this true?" The Prince asked Nigel.

Nigel wrenched his arms away from the guard and pulled down the neck of his shirt in the back. He flashed the letter H tattoo on the back of his shoulder at the blond woman. She nodded to her guard at the door, who promptly stepped away from the exit.

"What is your name, human?"

"Nigel Townsend."

The Prince nodded again in recognition. "Yes I remember. A Gangrel woman came to me a few months ago, asking to initiate you." She turned to Cash. "I assume that is the injured party?"

Cash nodded anxiously, wanting to get a move on. The Prince turned back to Nigel. "Well then, you are welcome to join me at my home, Mr. Townsend. We can sort this whole mess out tonight."

Nigel looked around at how outnumbered he was by the various Kindred and nodded his assent. He followed the blond woman as she led Jordan out the door to a limousine waiting outside the building. Cash and Peter followed close behind. The Ventrue guards were the last to leave. They shut off the lights in the Morgue and locked the doors. Outside, the Gangrel Primogen helped Peter and Jessie get into the back of a black and white that served as part of the Prince's police escort. The limo and its two car escort took off down the street in the direction of the Prince's house.

Cashturned to Jake and the other Gangrel, Lars. "I want you two to get the others and contact Redwind. Let him know that scum took down one of our own. I want every Gangrel in the City on the streets tonight. Leave no stone unturned, but be discreet. We already came to close to the Masquerade being broken once today."

Lars nodded but Jake looked confused. "Where are you gonna be?"

"I have to take care of this thing with J.J. and Rocky. Then I'll be right out there with you guys."

When he received nods from his clanmates, Cash mounted the back of his motorcycle speeding off after the Prince's caravan. When they were alone, the two Gangrel's turned to each other.

"Just like being back home isn't it?" Jake asked with a smirk.

"To the tee." Lars replied. "So… do you wanna tell Redwind we lost track of the Ravnos?"

Jake shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "Nah, I think you should be the one to do it. He likes you better."

Lars huffed. "Well I think you should do it. So, I guess there's only one way to settle this."

"Paper, Rock, Scissors?"

Lars nodded. "Best out of three."


	9. Kindred the Embraced

A/N: I'm trying to update a little more frequently now that people are showing more interest in this story. I'll keep it up as long as I can but please forgive me if I go a while between updates. Let me know what you think of this chapter, okay?

Disclaimer: I own Jessie Renard, Amelia St. Cloud, and a few minor characters. Everything else is someone else's bag.

Chapter 9

Jordan Cavanaugh dazedly looked around the lushly decorated office. The last thing she remembered clearly was being in an autopsy room with Bug. She vaguely recalled being on a rooftop with Peter, but it was hard to make out the details of that memory.

Now, her senses were coming back to her after what seemed to be a long while. Her hearing was the first to process. Muffled voices, that sounded like they were coming from another room a minute ago, where defining themselves. Now Jordan realized that the people talking were barely a few feet away from her. In fact a man's voice, which she quickly put together as Nigel's, seemed to be coming from the chair right next to her.

"…and I don't care who the hell you think you are! I will bloody well worry as much as I bloody well please!"

A woman's voice, from somewhere in front of Jordan, tried to sound soothing. "I understand your concern Mr. Townsend. But the effect will wear off momentarily. Honestly, I have not hurt her in any way."

"Tell that to my head." Jordan said, a hand going to her temples which had begun to throb. Her vision had finally righted itself and she gave the blond Prince a glare. Everything was beginning to come back; the weird flying smoke-guy, the attack on Garrett, the rooftop, everything.

"Okay, now that I've officially entered the Twilight Zone, with the migraine of the century I might add, would anyone care to tell me what the hell is going on?"

Nigel looked into Jordan's eyes. After a moment, he seemed satisfied that she hadn't been lobotomized and placed a small kiss on her forehead. "You had me worried for a minute there, darling. You didn't say a word the whole way here."

"And here would be…?"

"You are at my home Ms. Cavanaugh. May I call you Jordan?"

"Sure, if you'll tell me who you are, what's going on, and what the hell you did to me up on that rooftop."

The blond lady smiled warmly. "My name is Amelia St. Cloud. I've brought you and Mr. Townsend here to my home for your own safety. There is a very dangerous creature loose in the City and he seems to have set his sights on you. As for what happened on the rooftop, let's just say I have a hypnotic personality."

"Why do I think that's not the whole story?" Jordan retorted. Nigel was staying strangely silent during this whole exchange.

Again Amelia let out an amused chuckle. Her green eyes danced in mirth. "You do so remind me of your mother.

"That's the second time you've mentioned my mother. Did you know her?" Jordan stared at Amelia. She looked to be in her early fifties. Her golden hair was turning to wisps of white at the temple.

"Yes I knew your mother. She helped me out of a tight spot once when she was a young girl. We were quite good friends up until she passed away." At this, a shadowed expression passed over Amelia's face. "Before she died, I made her a promise that I would protect you if circumstances ever led you into my world. And now, regrettably, that seems to be the case."

"Your world?" Jordan looked confused. She glanced over at Nigel to see if any of this made sense to him but his eyes were stubbornly focused on Amelia.

"The world of the Kindred." Amelia replied, bringing Jordan's attention back to her. "We're a breed apart from humanity. We exist in the shadows. Some would call us vampires. But unlike the vampires of myth, Kindred do not kill humans for pleasure or food."

Jordan nodded, taking deep breaths as the information set in. It actually explained a lot. "So that guy who attacked us at the Morgue was…?"

"One of us, yes. Although, he was a Ravnos. Clan Ravnos does not abide by our rules of the Masquerade. They have no qualms about killing, which is why my people are out trying to catch him as we speak." Amelia looked troubled for a moment before returning to her previous neutral expression.

"What's the Masquerade?" Jordan's migraine was beginning to intensify but she couldn't let the subject go.

"The Masquerade is a code of conduct that all Kindred live by. It allows us to blend into human society so your people will not hunt us. Among our rules are the tenants against killing and against revealing our existence to humans."

"But you've just revealed your existence to us."

Amelia grinned, "Actually it was the Ravnos who broke the Masquerade. I'm simply fulfilling the promise I made to your mother. I'm telling you this to protect you. Because, if you're anything like she was, you'll probably get yourself into a heap of trouble trying to figure this all out on your own. I hope I can save us all grief and answer any questions you have up front."

Jordan nodded, accepting the older woman's explanation. "Okay, then what's all this business about clans?

"Kindred are divided into different clans based on our bloodlines. Each clan has different characteristics. I am part of Clan Ventrue. In general, we're the ones in positions of authority within Kindred society. Your friend Jessica is a member of Clan Gangrel. Gangrels are gypsies. They're fiercely loyal creatures and tend to stick to themselves. But in the cities where they settle, they often act as Enforcers for the Prince. The Prince of the City is the leader of all Kindred in a given area. I just happen to be the Prince of Boston."

"But you're a girl, how can you be a Prin…..Wait…. Jessie's a vampire?" Jordan's eyebrows shot into her hairline as her brain caught up with her. She turned to her boyfriend, who looked like he was trying to disappear into the floor. "Did you know about this?"

Nigel shot Amelia a panicked look. She decided to take pity on him. "Mr. Townsend has been in our confidence for many months now. Almost since he met Ms. Renard, if I'm not mistaken."

Jordan's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Nige, what's she talking about?"

"I wanted to tell you, luv. Honestly." Nigel's eyes were downcast in guilt. "I really did want to tell you, I just couldn't."

"Tell me what? You're ex-girlfriend, who's now dating Peter, just happens to be a vampire. And you couldn't tell me!" Jordan lately realized that she'd begun shouting halfway through her sentence. She gave a mental shrug and decided just to go with it. "Why the hell not!"

"Because it would have meant his death." Amelia cut in. "He joined an organization of humans who know about Kindred and cooperate with us. As a member of the Herd, Nigel was sworn to secrecy about our existence. The penalty for breaking that oath is death."

Jordan's mind was reeling and Nigel seemed to have literally sunk into himself. But before the brunette could put her two cents in, one of Amelia's guards burst into the room. Nigel recognized him as the brute that'd bruised his wrists back at the Morgue.

The Prince of the City looked annoyed. "What is it Lionel?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you my Prince, but I have an urgent message from Cash." Lionel looked nervously at the two humans in the room.

"It's alright Lionel you may speak freely. What is the message?" Amelia tried to look patient.

"The Gangrel Primogen of San Francisco requests permission for an emergency Embrace, Sire."

"Grounds?"

"The female Gangrel is dying. She's slipping into Torpor. He has a Herd member on hand willing to provide the needed transfusion. Cash says the man has already been claimed by the San Francisco Gangrels." The tall burly Ventrue was shifting nervously from foot to foot.

For a moment, Amelia looked like she was mulling the idea over. She then nodded to her bodyguard. "Tell Cash he has his permission. But the Fledgling can't be allowed out of the house afterwards. And I want the young one presented by his Primogen, in my office, after the First Torment subsides."

Lionel nodded once and made a swift exit. Amelia turned back to her stunned guests and smiled. "Now, where were we?"

* * *

Peter had an iron grip on Jessie's limp hand. She was lying on a bed with her hands and feet bound to the bedposts. _This has to work_, he thought. _I can't lose her. Not now that I've just found her again. _

Cash was pacing the length of the small guest bedroom. Scenarios of Jessie dying and leaving him to hunt down the Ravnos that killed her ran through his head. It was one of the few times in his life he'd been relieved that Stevie-Ray wasn't around. Cash would not have relished his Sire's reaction to Jessie getting hurt. Of all his Childer, Stevie had been most protective of J.J.

Finally, the Ventrue guard arrived to tell them they had Amelia's permission to proceed.

Cash took a deep breath and turned to Peter. "Are you sure about this, Rocky?"

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I weren't sure." Peter replied, removing his jacket. His eyes were still locked on to Jessie. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep her alive."

"She's gonna be pissed when she comes to, you know. I mean, I know what it's like to have a perspective Childe snatched out from under you. It's happened to me twice. It really bites." Cash retorted.

"At least she'll be alive."

"I know but I just want you to be sure that…."

Peter cut him off, placing a hand on Cash's shoulder. "Look, man. I'm positive about this. You're my best friend Cash. And I was planning to join the family anyways. It's where I belong. Okay?"

Cash nodded reluctantly. Peter took another deep breath. He walked back over and set down on the bed next to Jessie. "Okay, let's get this show on the road. What exactly do I do?"

The blond Gangrel pulled a wicked looking hunting knife out of his boot. "I'm gonna have to slice you. Then you need to place the wound to her mouth. When she gets enough blood in her, she'll probably wake up in Frenzy. That's why we tied her down. Then, I'll take it from there."

"Right." Peter said, rolling up the sleeve of his shirt and handing his wrist to Cash.

"This is gonna hurt like hell." Cash warned.

"Just do it."

Peter gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he felt his friend cut into the flesh of his wrist. He felt a sharp pain and warm liquid running down his arm. He opened his eyes and spun around toward Jessie, placing the spurting cut to her open mouth. It was a few very long seconds of feeling his blood drain away before Peter saw any change in Jessie.

First, he saw her throat muscles begin to move as her swallowing reflex kicked in. A second later, Jessie's eyes snapped open. They were predatory and glowing. Then, she latched onto the wound and began to struggle against her bonds. Peter again gritted his teeth against the pain of having his lifeblood sucked from him. After a few minutes, he began to slump over as dizziness and darkness started to overtake him.

Cash rushed over, prying his friend away from his Frenzied brood-sister. He lay Peter down on the lushly carpeted floor for safety's sake. He had a gauze bandage ready to wrap around Peter's injured wrist. As he applied the first-aid, Cash could hear Jessie growl slightly in the background before settling down into a soft purr as she fell back to sleep. He couldn't help but shake his head at the irony of the situation. Here, he had lost two women he loved to Embraces by other Sires, and he was about to do the same thing to Jessie in order to save her life.

"Alright, Cash man. Time's a wastin." He mumbled to himself before taking the hunting knife to his own arm. He made the same cut he'd made on Peter and lifted it to the younger man's lips.

Peter was quicker to respond than Jessie had been. This left Cash very grateful that he'd fed well before he'd gotten the call from Peter about the attack at the Morgue. Though, Peter was still unconscious, his hunger left nothing to be desired. The least Cash could do was make sure Peter would be as strong as he could be going into the First Torment. The body's change from being human to being Kindred was an exceedingly painful process and blood hunger only exacerbated it.

Cash felt a flood of memories from Peter as the Embrace went on. First, there were memories of two twin boys playing together as children. Then, there were images of the twins joined by a young girl as teenagers. Cash saw Peter's memories of medical school and being stung out on drugs. And finally there were images of his time at the Morgue.

When he was sure Peter had taken enough blood, Cash lay him down on the bed next to his sleeping girlfriend.

Bandaging his own wrist, Cash opened the door to the hallway, sticking his head out. "Hey, Lionel! Where'd you run off to?"

The Ventrue guard appeared seemingly out of nowhere, carrying a bottle of blood wine. He held the bottle out to Cash. "The Prince suggested I bring you this."

The Gangrel gave a grateful nod before pulling out the cork with his teeth and chugging the contents. Lionel raised an eyebrow. "That's a very good vintage, you know. It should be savored."

"Yeah I'll have to remember that next time." Cash retorted sarcastically between gulps. Returning to the room, he slumped down in a chair across from the bed, leaving Lionel to wander off. Taking in the scene of the couple on the bed, Cash sighed tiredly. "You two are gonna have my work cut out for me. But just so you know, you both are gonna owe me big for this one when we get home."


	10. Coversations with the Undead

A/N: I know beat me with a wet noodle, I've been a bad updater. Humor me. Read and review, please.

Disclaimer: Jessie Renard, Redwind, and Amelia St. Cloud all belong to me. Excluding some minor characters, everyone else belongs to someone else.

Chapter 10

When Peter woke up, the world was tilted sideways. The pain in his head and chest was so intense he felt a bit nauseous. He finally figured out that it was his own body that was twisted at an odd angle, his head lolling backwards over the side of a bed. With a groan, he tossed over onto his stomach, pain shooting up his spine with the movement.

"Hey. Easy there cowboy." Said a voice from somewhere on his left side. He felt a gentle hand press a cool washcloth to his forehead. It felt terrific.

The owner of the voice helped Peter lean back against some pillows that were propped up against the headboard. That's when he got a good look at her. Again he groaned. "Jordan, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Playing Florence Nightengale to the Undead." Jordan replied with a wry smile. At least she hadn't lost her sense of humor over the past two hours. "What my bedside manner doesn't work for you?"

"I, for one think you have a lovely bedside manner, luv," said another voice from across the room. A slight but fairly painful turn of the head let Peter see that it was Nigel who was seated in a plush chair across from the bed.

"You're just saying that so I'll forgive you for keeping secrets about said Undead." Jordan quipped.

"Guys," Peter interrupted, "thrilling as this conversation is, do you mind telling me why you're both here. And while you're at it, where are Jessie and Cash?"

"Ah, they were escorted away under a shroud of secrecy." Nigel said, rubbing his hands together in a conspiratorial manner.

"You're such a bullshitter, Nige." Jordan rolled her eyes. "The blond guy. Cash? He had to make a phone call to some vampire big shot back in San Francisco. Jessie practically had to be dragged out of here for questioning about that evil Rave-os guy."

"Ravnos, darling" Nigel corrected.

Peter moaned, feeling a pain in his head he was fairly certain was unrelated to his Embrace. He turned to his British coworker. "So she knows…?"

"Pretty much everything." Nigel nodded. "At least, she knows as much as I do about our Kindred friends. The Prince of the City had us in for tea and a nice long chat."

"And this might just keeps getting better and better." Peter mumbled.

"You ain't just whistlin' Dixie." Jordan retorted.

There was a commotion in the hallway outside and Jessie burst into the room followed by Lionel. The later was rubbing his eye where Jessie had obviously hit him. She was yelling at the top of her lungs.

"And the next time you put one of your paws on me, I will rip it off! Now I want to see him and I…"

"Hey, hey. HEY! Have a little care for the Newbie, here." Peter ground out over her shouting. "I have a splitting headache."

Jessie's whole manner at the sight of him. She sat down on the side of the bed next to Peter opposite Jordan.

"Oh, baby." She checked him over, running a hand lightly over his bandaged arm. Her face turned angry again as she looked at it. "I will kill him! I swear by Cain, I will. He had no right!"

Peter just groaned as another wave of nausea overtook him. Jordan turned to Jessie. "What do you mean 'he had no right'?"

Jessie seemed to just notice the other woman and her eyes went wide. Before she could ask what Jordan was doing there, Nigel interrupted her. "Here by order of the Prince, luv."

Jessie nodded, as if that explained everything. Jordan wouldn't let up. "You said, 'he had no right.' Who were you talking about?"

"Cash." Jessie practically growled. She took the cold washrag from Jordan, pressing it to his forehead. "He had no right to Embrace Rocky. I had already claimed him. I should be his Sire."

Jordan took a moment to process this information. It was a new world to her and all the laws were alien. She had heard the guard, Lionel, say something about a Herd member who had been "claimed" by Clan Gangrel. She could only assume that meant Peter. Jordan started to remember bits of conversations. During their meeting at the rave, Jordan recalled Jessie telling Cash that Peter was "hers."

She also recalled that Amelia had said Nigel was also a member of the Herd, and had been so since meeting Jessie. A cold shiver ran down her spine as she looked at her boyfriend. "So does that mean you intend to…Embrace…Nigel too?"

"What?" Jessie looked up from her doting on Peter to see Jordan giving Nigel a worried stare, and Nigel looking as if someone had just killed his puppy. "No!"

Nigel frowned at Jessie's vehemence. She smiled slightly and her tone softened. "You make your own destiny, Nigel. You can choose any Sire from any clan that you want. That's assuming you want to be Embraced at all. Some of people choose to live out their lives within the heard and just go when their time comes."

Nigel smiled at this and Jordan looked relieved. Jessie smirked and added, "Besides, you seem like more of a Tory to me than a Gangrel."

He laughed out loud, prompting another confused look from Jordan. He sat down on the bed behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Clan Toreador is the artist's clan. What with my background in photography, she'd saying it might be a good fit."

"Oh great, not only are my friends turning up vampires, now I have to deal with an undead boyfriend too!" Jordan's eyes went wide.

Nigel shook his head. "It's just for future reference, darling. No one says I have to.."

He was cut off by Peter's body arching off the bed as another shot of pain ran through him. His fingernails, which had converted to claws, tore at the bedding. Jessie grabbed at his arms, pinning them above his head. "Shit."

Nigel and Jordan jumped off the bed. Nigel tried to shield Jordan from their friend bodily, but she just rolled her eyes at him and ducked around for a closer look. Peter had opened his eyes which had turned an almost glowing ice blue. His pupils were dialated and he began to flail, baring a set of razor sharp teeth every so often. Jessie was holding him down with a grip that looked like it could brake his wrists.

"Is that really necessary?" Jordan asked. Peter looked more like he was going in to a seizure than anything else. And being a trained doctor, Jordan knew that this was not a way to handle a seizure patient.

"It is if you don't want your throat ripped out!" Jessie countered. "You guys need to get out of here. You're Warm and it's making him worse. Go get Cash and tell him the First Torment has started. Go now!"

Nigel rushed Jordan out of the room without further ado. Jordan felt the need to comment. "Well, that was a bit rude. What'd she mean we were making it worse?"

"We're human, luv." Nigel replied, looking around for the Gangrel Primogen. "First Torment, from what I understand is brought on by bloodlust."

"Oh." Jordan mumbled, a confused look on her face. Then, it dawned on her what he meant and her eyebrows shot into her hairline. "Oh! You mean he would have…"

Nigel nodded.

"To us?"

Again, Nigel nodded.

"That's….really…gross." Jordan concluded.

"Don't knock it til you've tried it, luv." Nigel mumbled.

"Huh?"

He was saved the trouble of responding as the Kindred he'd been looking for rounded a corner into the hallway, followed by an old Native American man with tribal tattoos littering his face and forearms.

"Cash!" Nigel shouted out. At the raised eyebrow the two men gave him, Nigel held out his hand in greeting. "Sorry, we've never been formally introduced. Jessie's told me a lot about you. Nigel Townsend."

"I know who you are." Cash said brusquely.

Seeing that Cash wasn't in the mood for pleasantries, Nigel retracted his hand. "Yes, well, now that we're all acquainted."

Jordan cut him off. "Jessie says she needs you. She said something about the First Torment starting for Peter."

"Shit." Cash said heading in the direction of Peter's room.

"Cash, we are on a deadline." The old man pointed out.

"Yeah, man, I know." Cash replied. "Just give me five minutes to get him set up."

Cash closed the door after himself leaving Jordan and Nigel alone in the hall with the elder Kindred.

"Well," Jordan said after a moment. "This is awkward…. So…sucked any good blood lately?"


	11. Jordan's Mom and the Malkie

A/N: I've given up trying to predict when I'll come out with new chapter. Roving bands of writer's block gnomes attack me in my sleep. I'll try my best for you to get another out soon. In the meantime, read this chapter and review it please.

Disclaimer: I own, Jessie Renard, Amelia St. Cloud, and Larissa. All the rest belong to someone else.

Chapter 11

The thought occurred to Nigel that being with Jordan had gotten him into more trouble in the last month of romantic bliss, than it had the entire time they were just friends. It was a thought he'd had more than once. It was running through his mind again as he and Jordan snuck into the musty library.

"What exactly is the point of this again, luv?"

"If we're going to be stuck in this house, I at least want to put the time to to good use." Jordan responded. She began rifling through piles of old, official looking papers on top of a nearby table.

"And that use would be?"

She shrugged and rolled her eyes. "I'm looking for information about my mother."

Nigel's head began to throb. "What are you talking about?"

"Amelia said my Mom was part of the Herd right? Under her protection?" Jordan moved on to the drawers of a desk nearby.

"Yes, she did mention that."

"Well, they must keep some record of the Herd. Otherwise, anybody could slap on one of those cute letter "H" tattoos you showed me, and be meat for the beast."

"I don't think that's how it works, luv."

"Exactly." Jordan said. Pulling out a thick tome from the bottom of a large stack. "I'm betting the tattoo thing is a recent development. So, they'd have to have had a way of keeping track back in the 60's. Maybe, if I can find out what her relationship was to the Kindred, I can find out who killed her."

"Jordan. I'm all for helping find out who killed your mother, but snooping around the Prince's house seems a bit like pushing our luck."

"Don't worry so much, Nige." Jordan gave him a mischevious smile. "The Prince likes me, remember? She's an old friend of the family. Besides, she and the other bloodsuckers are busy dealing with Peter, and looking for Dracula-boy."

"Who just happens to be looking for you!"

"Oh, look!" Jordan replied, ignoring her lover's outburst. "This looks like something."

The book she'd opened looked like a ledger in the front. It listed names and dates, the dates presumably corresponding to the date of initiation into the Herd. Jordan scanned the dates listed between her mother's date of birth through the date of her death. After a few minutes, she spotted the familiar name.

"Here it is! Emily Westin (Cavanaugh), May 7th, 1952." Jordan's eyes began to tear up. "She was barely seventeen. How could she be part of this world her whole life, and I never knew?"

"She couldn't let anyone know, Jordan, especially her family." Nigel wrapped his arms around her from behind. He became a support column for her, kissing her hair as she started to tremble. "Look, there's a page number at the end of the row. Here, she's on page 224."

He turned the page to view the information on Jordan's mother. To their surprise, the page was taken up mainly by an ink sketch of a smiling young woman with Jordan's features. Tears began to fall down her cheeks as she read the description of her mother.

"Young Emily Westin was initiated into the Herd as a reward for saving the life of Amelia St. Cloud. St. Cloud, a favorite subject of Prince Carter Putnam of Boston, was cornered by a rogue Brujah, and left to die out in the sun near the Westin family home. Emily gave the Ventrue fledgeling shelter in her family's stables for three days. She was brought into the confidence of the Kindred shortly thereafter, and has been a loyal member of the Herd ever since."

"Sounds like she was a remarkable young woman."

Jordan gave a teary nod. "There's an addendum to the original entry on the next page. It's from '64, when I was a baby. 'Emily Cavanaugh has been removed from active status within the Herd. Having run afowl of one of the new Prince's Malkavian enemies, her mental state renders her useless as a source of nourishment and information. The Conclave has recommended that her memories be altered and all ties to Ms. Cavanaugh be severed.'"

"I don't understand," Jordan grumbled. "What the hell does that mean? What's a Malkavian?"

"It's another clan among the Kindred." Said a voice from behind them. The couple turned, and Jordan let out a strangled scream at the creature before her.

The vampire looked a lot like something out of an old black and white movie Nigel used to like. It featured a rat faced vampire Count with elongated fingernails. If possible, though, she was even less attractive. Her eyes were beady and unevenly set, and her nose was turned completely sideways. The only reason she was recognizable as a female was the tattered Victorian gown she wore over her gnarled frame.

"It isn't polite to stare." The creature snapped. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that?"

Nigel was the first to speak. "So sorry, luv. We just …haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting one of your kind yet."

"And that would be?" Jordan whispered back to Nigel.

"Nosferatu." The vampire screeched in irritation, her thick New England accent bursting through her buck-toothed fangs.. "Your boyfriend at least has manners. You are too much like your mother… The name's Larissa, by the way."

"You knew my mother?"

Larrisa scoffed. "Who didn't? Nosy little chit, that one. Not that I'm speaking ill of the dead. I liked Emily a lot. She had spunk. But oh the trouble she'd get into! Drove the Prince crazy…both of 'em!"

Seeing that Jordan was trying to absorb that whole exchange, Nigel spoke up. "At the risk of sounding even more ignorant, who exactly are you?"

Larissa gave a twisted smile. "I'm the Scribe for this City. You could say I'm the town historian. This is my library you're tearing through."

"So, you're the one who wrote the ledger." Jordan surmised.

"I wrote most of the books in this room." Larissa replied, shrugging her bony shoulders. "And before you ask, I don't have any idea who killed Emily. None of us do. And believe me, if it were up to Amelia, whoever did it would've been dead a long time ago."

"But the ledger mentions something about her running afowl of a Malkavian." Jordan countered.

"That had nothing to do with her death." Larissa shook her head. "That was just an unfortunate byproduct of a political struggle."

"Care to elaborate?" Jordan crossed her arms over her chest. She was getting a bit irritated at Larissa's evasive manner.

"Malkies are the prophets of Kindred society. They're also completely bonkers. Off their rockers, the lot of them. And they have a tendency to be contagious in that respect."

"Are you saying that one of these Malkies did something to my mom?"

"Larissa!"

Everyone turned to see Amelia standing in the doorway. She walked into the room with a stately gait. She paused directly in front of the Nosferatu, and looked down her nose at Larissa. For her part, Larissa just scowled.

"Don't give me that look. Just 'cause you've got your nose on straight, doesn't mean I'm gonna cower before you."

"You've been speaking out of turn again."

"Come on, the kid deserves to know what happened. Besides, you'd have told her anyways. I just got the ball rolling."

Amelia gave Larissa one last eye roll and turned to Jordan and Nigel. "Perhaps we could continue this conversation in the study over some drinks."

"Good. I could use one." Jordan replied.

When they got to the study, Amelia mixed herself a martini and fixed Jordan a double scotch and Nigel a cognac. Very shortly, they were back in the mood for conversation. Amelia took a deep breath and started her story.

"Your mother was a beautiful and generous person. She saved my life." Amelia smiled nostalgically. "She was also incredibly curious about everything in life. Our world fascinated her. Up until she got married, Emily loved mingling through all the high society Kindred parties, and learning all she could about the clans and their histories."

"But what about the Malkavian?"

Amelia sighed. "His name was Deacon. At one point, he and I were lovers. However, when Carter died, and I threw my hat in the ring to become Prince, Deacon opposed me to the fullest. He kept saying something about convergent timelimes and malcontented lollipops."

Jordan raised an eyebrow and made a hand gesture to get Amelia to continue.

"Ah, yes, getting to the point…Deacon knew that Emily and I were very close, and that I had claimed her as a future Childe, should she so choose. In his warped thinking, he got the notion that if he could get control of Emily's mind, he could sway me. So, he tricked her into becoming his Ghoul."

"Ghoul?"

"It's our term for a human whose had intimate contact with a Kindred and formed a blood connection. This affords the human limited use of Kindred abilities, and it allows the Kindred moderate control over the human. In the case of a Malkavian, the Ghoul's mind is usually warped in some way."

"So, you're saying that Deacon scrambled my Mom's brain to get to you?"

Amelia nodded solemnly. "After I became Prince, I ordered Deacon's death. Most of your mother's symptoms dissipated when that bond was broken. Unfortunately, the mental effects didn't disappear completely."

"So, that's what was wrong with her." Jordan breathed, trying to take it all in. For most of her life, she'd blamed herself deep down for her mother's mental problems. Now that she had proof to the contrary from a new, unbiased source, her mind was reeling.

While they were all finishing their drinks, lost in their own somber thoughts, none of them saw the study window cloud over with a black mist as it swung gently open, it wasn't until, a dark figure appeared directly behind the Prince that Jordan looked up and screamed, then the whole world went black.


End file.
